Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder and Psychological Health of Secondary School Female Adolescents in Ibadan Metropolis, Nigeria

Abstract

The study investigated the prevalence of premenstrual dysphoric disorder and the influence of socio-demographic variables (age, parent’s socio- economic status, parent’s educational level and religiosity) on psychological health of female adolescents in Ibadan metropolis, Oyo State, Nigeria. Cross- sectional data obtained from 985 secondary school female adolescents with ages ranges between 12-20 years (N = 15.8 years and SD = 1.42) were used in  the study. The mean rank of symptoms for the sampled adolescents with the highest value in the measure of psychological health ranges from 31.13  (weakness) to 28.94 (thirst). There was no difference between young and old female adolescents in their psychological health {t(522) = -.22, p>.05};  parental educational status has no influence on female adolescents’ psychological health {F(2, 527) = 2.03, p> .05}; and parental socio-economic status  has no influence on female adolescents psychological health {F(4, 526) = 1.23, p>.05}. Meanwhile, religiosity has significant influence on adolescents’  psychological health {F(3, 531) = 2.83, p<.05. The study concluded that despite high awareness on female adolescents’ psychological health in Nigeria,  more still need to be accomplished on how to reduce the psychological burden of premenstrual syndromes .