The Effect of Cognitive-Behavioral Stress Management on Anxiety and Somatic Symptoms of Women with Premenstrual Syndrome

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of cognitive-Behavioral Stress Management (CBSM) on the anxiety and somatic symptoms of women with Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS). This semi-experimental study was conducted as post- test and pre-test by control groups. Statistical population included women who had referred to 3 Rafsanjan city pregnancy clinics in May 2009. The sampling method was "step by step" random sampling; so after random choice of one clinic, from among women who referred to this clinic, 50 women were selected as available sample and then 20 of them, who acquired the highest score by the Questionnaires for Estimating PMS, were selected as final sample and were randomly separated into two equal groups. Data gathered by General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) and Questionnaires for Estimating PMS Symptoms. The women of interventional group took part in 90-minutes training program for 8 sessions. Post–test scores recorded and data analyzed by co-variance test using SPSS-16 software. The data from two groups showed that the mean scores of post-test anxiety (P<0.05) significantly decreased in the experimental group compared to the control group. The results also showed that the mean scores of post-test of somatic symptoms in experimental group did not decrease significantly.