Teen-age dysmenorrhea and social adjustment

Primary dysmenorrhea. Relationship to personality and attitudes in adolescent females

Primary dysmenorrhea is experienced by 40-80% of adolescent females. Traditionally, the literature discussing the etiology and management of this entity has given greater weight to psychologic than to physiologic factors. However, four previous studies addressing psychosocial variables failed to show a relationship to primary dysmenorrhea. In this study, personality factors and certain attitudinal variables were not found to be significantly related to the presence of primary dysmenorrheic pain. Current evidence strongly suggests that uterine contractility, hormone variables, and prostaglandins are causative in most cases of primary dysmenorrhea. Therefore, it is recommended that primary dysmenorrhea be regarded and managed as a physiologic phenomenon in the majority of adolescent females.

[Etiology of premenstrual tension: review of the literature]

O autor faz uma revisão da literatura sôbre a etiologia da tensão prémenstrual, distinguindo 10 correntes que são esquematizadas e discutidas; verifica que nenhuma delas oferece base suficiente para explicar a síndrome de forma convincente. Com respeito à psicogênese, expressa a opinião de que dêste campo ainda não foi suficientemente explorado.