Medical care-seeking for menstrual symptoms

Fifty-six female undergraduates completed questionnaires regarding their menstrual symptoms, social learning experiences, and illness representations. The results showed that, compared to non-care-seekers, participants who had sought medical care for their menstrual symptoms reported more symptoms t...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of psychosomatic research 2000-08, Vol.49 (2), p.137-140
Main Authors: Thompson, Melanie L, Gick, Mary L
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation, Psychological
Adult
Affect
Attitude to Health
Biological and medical sciences
Care-seeking
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Gynecology and obstetrics
Helpseeking
Humans
Life Change Events
Medical treatment
Menstrual symptoms
Menstruation
Menstruation - psychology
Patient Acceptance of Health Care - psychology
Psychology and medicine
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Reinforcement (Psychology)
Selfreport
Sick Role
Social Desirability
Surveys and Questionnaires
Symptoms
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Fifty-six female undergraduates completed questionnaires regarding their menstrual symptoms, social learning experiences, and illness representations. The results showed that, compared to non-care-seekers, participants who had sought medical care for their menstrual symptoms reported more symptoms that had been problematic since menarche. Consistent with previous research, care-seekers reported more reinforcement for adolescent menstrual illness behaviours than non-care-seekers. Care-seekers also reported their symptoms as more serious and more difficult to ignore. The perceived seriousness and severity of symptoms were both correlated with reinforcement for adolescent menstrual symptoms. Lay referral was also a reported factor in care-seekers. The results of the present data are discussed with respect to previous research on care-seeking for menstrual and other symptoms.
ISSN:0022-3999
1879-1360
DOI:10.1016/S0022-3999(00)00149-5