The Effect of an Educational Intervention Based on Construal Level Theory on Decision Making in Adolescents with Premenstrual Syndrome

In this study, the existing challenge about the association of construal level and temporal distance was examined. Doing so, the effect of two types of educational intervention on progress of decision making stages in students with premenstrual syndrome (PMS) was studied, based on theoretical concepts of construal level. The present study is a randomized field trial research conducted on 1578 high school students. A total of 255 students in the second stage of the precaution adoption process model were chosen randomly. They then went through educational intervention based on either low or high construal levels of relaxation method. Subjects in the intervention group showed a higher decision-making stage progression than in control group (p<0.001). The two-stage progression was significantly salient in low construal level-based intervention group (p=0.012). None of the demographic, premenstrual, and premenstrual syndrome severity characteristics were related to this progression. Inducing low construal level causes an individual shift toward desired action more rapidly. That is, there is a correlation between construal level and temporal distance. To accelerate the adoption of any health behavior, temporal distance can be taken as a basic and essential topic.