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Psychosomatic Medicine, Vol 59, Issue 6 616-619, Copyright © 1997 by American Psychosomatic Society

ORIGINAL ARTICLES

The influence of ambient light and menstrual status on the moods of a nonclinical population of young women

D Einon
Psychology Department, University College, London, England.

OBJECTIVE: To study the influence of the daily variation in ambient light and menstrual status on mood fluctuation in a nonclinical population of young women. METHODS: Women kept mood diaries (two per day) over a period of 32 days that straddled the spring equinox. One group believed the purpose of the study was to investigate women's moods are significantly elevated by light, and this elevation occurs irrespective of the subjects knowledge of the experimental purpose. No evidence for a depression of women's mood in the premenstruum was found, although women who claimed to suffer from premenstrual syndrome (PMS) showed more reversals of their mood during the 32 days records were kept. CONCLUSIONS: The results highlight the fact that an individual's mood may be influenced by the levels of ambient light as well as the photoperiod.




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Copyright © 1997 by the American Psychosomatic Society