The relationship between personality type, and menstrual patterns and neuropsychological performance in young women

Introduction Personality type describes the configuration of personality traits which represents an individual. We have explored the association between personality type, menstrual pattern and associated symptoms, neuropsychological function, and quality of life of young healthy females. Materials and Methods Menstrual patterns and presence of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and primary dysmenorrhea (PD) were assessed using standard tools. Personality type was determined using the Personality Type A/B Inventory questionnaire. The presence and severity of depression, anxiety, stress, insomnia and sleepiness were evaluated using other validated questionnaires. Results Of the 179 females in the population sample, 38.6% were Type A personality and 61.4%were Type B personality. There was no significant difference in the mean age of women with menarche menstrual pattern, presence of PMS and PD between subjects with Type A or Type B personality. The women with Type B personality performed better than women with Type A personality for most of the cognitive ability tasks. Moreover, women with a Type A personality had a higher score for depression and stress, and a lower score for mental health compared to Type B group (P<0.05). Logistic regression analyses showed that individuals with a Type A personality were more likely than women with a Type B personality to have cognitive impairment (OR=3.5, 95%CI: 1.8–6.7), depressive mood (OR = 1.9; 95%CI: 1.05–3.6), stress reaction (OR = 3.6; 95%CI:1.8–7.4), and lower quality of life (OR = 3.7, 95%CI: 1.6–8.7). Conclusions There was no significant relationship between personality type and menstrual pattern or menstrual-associated complications. Type A personality had a greater degree of personality disorder traits including lower cognitive performance, decreased mental quality of life, as well as higher depression, and stress.