WOMEN

• Puberty
• Biological Correlates of Puberty
• Age at Onset
• Breast Development
• Fat Spurt
• Menarche
• Psychological Effects
• Menarche
• Bodily focus
• Code of Silence
• Breast Development
• Teasing
• Anxiety
• Double Bind
• Weight and Body Image
• Weight Gain
• "Long Lithe Look"
• Meaning
• Early versus Late Maturation
• Body Image
• Social Effects
• Academic Effects
• Premenstrual Syndrome
• Definition
• Original definition (R. T. Frank, 1931) of Premenstrual Tension was mood changes occurring in the 3 to 4 days immediately preceding menstruation.
• Included
• depression
• anxiety
• irritability
• low self-esteem
• Later Definitions became much broader
• Often included
• behaviors and
• physical and intellectual functioning
• Four Types of Studies of PMS
• Correlation of behaviors with cycle phase
• 49% of crimes committed by women
• 45% of calling in sick
• 46% of psychiatric admissions
• 52% of accident/emergency admissions
• 54% of mothers of children brought to a clinic for a minor cold
• BUT, 8 days equal about 29% of the days in a usual menstrual cycle THUS 29% of these behaviors should occur during these 8 days. Behaviors left to explain:
• 20% crimes
• 16% of calling in sick
• 17% psychiatric admissions
• 23% accident-emergency admissions
• 25% taking child to clinic for minor cold
• AND
• We know that STRESS can affect the hormonal cycle
• thus bringing on the menstrual cycle.
• No decrements have been found for physical or intellectual performance during this 8-day period.
• Retrospective Questionnaires--Report of symptoms and moods at various phases
• Focus of Questions
• Illusory Correlation
• Social Conditioning
• Self-Reports Made by Women Throughout Their Cycle
• Positive mood around the time of ovulation
• Anxiety, irritability, depression, fatigue, and headaches premenstrually
• Problems with Self-Reports
• Demand Characteristics
• Negative findings disappear when respondents are not aware that PMS is being studied
• Projective Techniques
• Participants tell stories to the experimenter at regular intervals throughout the cycle
• Stories premenstrually contain more anxiety about death, mutilation, and separation
• Stories midcycle (ovulation) contain higher levels of self-esteem and self-confidence
• Problems with PMS Research
• 1. Virtually all data is correlational.
• 2. PMS is vaguely defined.
• 3. Documented cultural influences.
• 4. Subtle problem of interpretation
• 5. Failure to investigate effective coping techniques
• Conclusions
• There is evidence

• that some women do experience cyclic mood changes but so do some men,
• that these changes are primarily hormonal is not likely, and
• that they are culturally determined is more likely, but NOT proved.
• No matter what the source of these mood changes
• they probably affect far less than 50% of women,
• most women cope effectively with these changes by sleeping more or by keeping busy or by eating foods that do not promote water retention, AND

• these mood changes DO NOT affect physical and intellectual abilities, i.e., work output is as high in quantity and quality as at any other time of the month.
• Documented Menstrual Cycle Fluctuations
• Increased sensitivity of the senses
• Menopause
• Physiology
• Rats
• Women

• Changes
• sexual behavior
• Decline in sexual interest
• Painful intercourse
• Hot Flashes, etc.
• Periods of profuse sweating, feeling very hot, and becoming flushed
• Associated with a surge of lutenizing hormone and/or increased adrenal activity
• Occur in 60-70% of women
• Correlates of Hot Flashes
• tingling sensations
• insomnia
• nervousness
• muscle and joint aches
• fatigue
• dizziness
• headaches
• heart palpitations
• Depression
• About 30% of women who have had depression in the past will have a small increase in the number of depressive episodes and the number of depressive symptoms

• These are related to the frequency of the hot flashes and to the women’s feelings about her loss of fertility.
• Women who have not had prior episodes of depression are not at increased risk of depression following menopause.
• Etc.
• Women are more likely to report distressing menopausal changes if they are less educated, not working, and in poor physical health.

• These changes will be reported as more distressing if either she or her culture has a negative stereotype of postmenopausal women.
• Having severe and/or frequent life stress, e.g., death, illnesses, retirement, also increases distressing menopausal symptoms.
• Osteoporosis
• Loss of bone structure
• Makes breakage more likely
• Can lead to the "dowager’s hump"
• Cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, and low activity levels seem to increase the rate of osteoporosis
• Estrogen therapy, exercise, calcium supplements, and being slightly overweight decrease the rate
• Estrogen Replacement Therapy (aka HRT)
• Although decreases the risk of osteoporosis and heart disease, it may increase the risk of breast cancer
• On many regimens the menses continue
• Personal decision--handout that discusses risks and benefits

• Puberty

• Peaks in testosterone levels occur 30 to 10 minutes before REM
• Related to adrenal activity not testes
• Females also have testosterone cycles with the highest levels in the morning
• Behavioral Correlates
• Females
• Orgasm most likely to occur when sexual activity takes place after midday

• Males
• Positive moods more likely at midday and late afternoon
• Cognitive task performances better in the morning
• Monthly Cycles in Males
• Little research in this area
• One study found monthly cycles in male mental patients
• mental symptoms
• activity levels
• body temperature
• incidents of fevers

• Another study found rhythmic changes in testosterone levels
• ranged from 8 to 30 days
• consistent for each individual
• varied from 9% to 28% change
• again, consistent for each individual
• Annual Cycles in Females
• Ovarian activity seems to be suppressed during the winter
• Annual Cycles in Males
• Testosterone reaches a peak somewhere between July and November
• younger men have earlier seasonal peaks
• Lowest testosterone levels are between February and June
• Possible Correlates with Annual Cycles
• Small annual rhythms in several behaviors have been identified
• Annual peaks in these behaviors generally occur between May and November
• Reproductive Senescence
• Aging males have declining levels of testosterone
• Decline in level is evident by age 44
• Estrogen levels may increase
• particularly in males with higher levels of body fat
• Changes in Sexual Behavior
• Decline in testosterone is not directly related to decline in sexual activity
• Injections of testosterone will not restore the sexual activity of older males to levels typical of younger males
• However, regular sexual activity may maintain youthful levels of testosterone in older men
• Testosterone Treatment
• Androgen treatment for 45 to 60 year old males can lead to
• a decrease in neuroticism
• an increase in extroversion, and
• an increase in masculine self-image
• Improvements in cognitive performance have also been shown
• Male Menopause
• There are real problems with this work
• More recent studies indicate this is a social/cultural phenomenon, not a biological/hormonal factor.