Childhood sexual assault history and premenstrual syndrome

Background. Some previous studies showed a possible relationship between childhood sexual assault history and premenstrual syndrome (PMS). However, most of those studies were not conducted using data from large sized community-based samples. Our study examined the relationship between sexual assault history and PMS with a large community-based sample.

Method. Women's Wellness Study (WWS) data were used for analysis. Women aged between 13 and 55 years who currently have menstrual cycles participated in the study from two urban and two rural regions of Illinois and Missouri. 1125 Women who responded to sexual assault history were included in the analysis. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the association between sexual assault history and PMS, controlling for age, race, education, income, marital status, and employment status.

Results. Of 1125 women in the study, 85% reported never having had sexual assault involving intercourse, 8.2% reported childhood (under 18) sexual assault involving intercourse, and 6.8% reported sexual assault involving intercourse at the age of 18 or more. As for PMS, 80.2% responded ever experiencing PMS. Those women who had childhood sexual assault involving intercourse were 3.9 times more likely to have experienced PMS than women who were never assaulted, while women who were sexually assaulted involving intercourse at the age of 18 or over did not show any significant difference.

Conclusions. Childhood Sexual assault in intercourse is statistically associated with experiencing PMS. We suggest childhood sexual assault prevention advocate is needed and a proper intervention for victims of childhood sexual assault is needed.