The effect of coping methods in reducing anxiety among girls with premenstrual syndrome

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Midwifery, Ardabil Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ardabil, Iran

2 Department of English Teaching, Ardabil Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ardabil, Iran.

3 Department of Midwifery, Ataturk University, Erzurum, Turkey.

Abstract

Premenstrual syndrome is one of the most common problems of reproductive age, which is seen in varying degrees in 85-90% of women during the reproductive age. Also, in 20-40% of cases, people suffer from physical or mental problems and disabilities such as anxiety. Girls with premenstrual syndrome need to use effective coping strategies and methods due to various psychological problems. Coping strategies reduce the severity of stress and its physical and psychological consequences and make the person adapt to different stresses. This research was a quasi-experimental study with pre-test and post-test design and a control group. The population of the present study included high school girls in Ardabil, who were selected by multi-stage cluster sampling. From this population, 32 people were randomly assigned to an experimental and a control group. Then, the questionnaire of premenstrual syndrome symptoms and Beck Anxiety Scale were completed in two stages before and after the test, and in the meantime, a training program for coping techniques was administered to the experimental group in 10 two-hour sessions. Data analysis was performed using ANCOVA of SPSS. The results of data analysis showed that coping strategies training program changes and decreases anxiety (F=16.01, p = .0001, Partial h2= 0.35) scores of students with premenstrual syndrome. Therefore, according to the results, it can be said that most of the emotional problems of people and behaviors related to those emotions are rooted in their irrational expressions when faced with situations or events that are not to their liking.  Therefore, people's awareness of how cognitive, emotional and behavioral elements are related to events and examining them in the form of practice and experience can control emotions such as anxiety.

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