Premenstrual depression: A distinct entity.

Premenstrual symptom report of 30- to 45-year-old normal women was assessed retrospectively with the Premenstrual Assessment Form (Halbreich, Endicott, Schacht, & Nee, 1982). Women reporting premenstrual depression (PMD) or no psychological changes (controls) premenstrually completed daily symptom ratings during one menstrual cycle and were assessed pre- and postmenstrually with self-report depression inventories and a test of selective attention. Inspection of daily ratings revealed two distinct subgroups within the PMD group: 39% were confirmed as experiencing PMD and 36% reported intermittent depression throughout the cycle. Both self-report and selective attention data yielded distinctly different response patterns for the three groups, with only the PMD group reporting the classic premenstrual increase in depression. Implications of these findings for the validity and nature of the premenstrual depressive experience are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)