Between 2009–2015, naturally cycling women aged 18–47 (M = 32.70, SD = 8.21) with regular cycles (21–35 days) were recruited through flyers and emails seeking women with premenstrual emotional symptoms. Women were excluded for chronic medical disorders; histories of mania, substance dependence, or psychosis; any current SCID-I diagnosis; and certain medications (antidepressants, benzodiazepines, neuroleptics, or hormonal preparations). Participants were not paid. At a baseline visit, participants reported their medical and medication history and completed the SCID-I15 . Participants retrospectively reported the degree of premenstrual increase in each of 21 symptoms16 on a 4-point Likert scale from 1–No change to 4–Severe change (α = .91). Two hundred sixty-seven eligible women completed prospective assessment.
Prospective assessment included 2–4 cycles of daily DRSP ratings. Participants noted daily events they believed to have impacted daily mood; days in which participants reported the occurrence of a severe stressor not caused by symptoms were coded as missing. Participants mailed in forms weekly. In the final sample, 200 women provided at least two cycles. Eighty-five percent of women who dropped out after 1 cycle had not met C-PASS PMDD criteria in the first cycle. In women with >= 2 cycles, missing days were minimal (3.4%); just 1% of daily data were missing due to external events. Expert diagnoses (coauthor DR) of MRMD made prior to the development of the C-PASS (on the basis of identical data) were available for the majority of our sample (193 women; 96.5%). Because the DRSP summed total score demonstrates inadequate reliability of change17 , descriptive statistics for single items are considered.
Prospective assessment included 2–4 cycles of daily DRSP ratings. Participants noted daily events they believed to have impacted daily mood; days in which participants reported the occurrence of a severe stressor not caused by symptoms were coded as missing. Participants mailed in forms weekly. In the final sample, 200 women provided at least two cycles. Eighty-five percent of women who dropped out after 1 cycle had not met C-PASS PMDD criteria in the first cycle. In women with >= 2 cycles, missing days were minimal (3.4%); just 1% of daily data were missing due to external events. Expert diagnoses (coauthor DR) of MRMD made prior to the development of the C-PASS (on the basis of identical data) were available for the majority of our sample (193 women; 96.5%). Because the DRSP summed total score demonstrates inadequate reliability of change17 , descriptive statistics for single items are considered.
