Özet:

Background: Many women suffer from acute or severe premenstrual syndrome (PMS). Studies show that PMS is often affected by the levels of stress women experience in day-to-day life. This research examined the relationship between depression, academic stress, and the severity of PMS in college students. Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study. Its participants included 300 female college students from three faculties within a South Korea university. Participants completed questionnaires, and descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Spearman’s correlation, and multivariate analyses were performed on questionnaire data using SPSS 23.0 software.   Findings: PMS was found to be significantly negatively correlated with physical activity and positively correlated with perceived health status, eating salty foods, depression, and academic stress. The factors associated with PMS among college students were physical activity (β=-.12, p=.001), academic stress (β=.59, p<.001), and depression (β=.03, p<.001). These variables explained 70% of the variance in PMS, and academic stress was the most influential factor. Applications: This study’s findings imply that universities should develop specific programs to help students cope with academic stress, engage in physical activity, and combat depression in order to help female college students experience less severe PMS.

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