Affective responses to the menstrual cycle vary widely. Some individuals experience severe symptoms like those with premenstrual dysphoric disorder, while others have minimal changes. The reasons for these differences are unclear, but prior studies suggest stressor exposure may play a role. However, research in at-risk psychiatric samples is lacking.

In a large clinical sample, we conducted a prospective study of how lifetime stressors relate to degree of affective change across the cycle. 114 outpatients with past-month suicidal ideation (SI) provided daily ratings (n = 6187) of negative affect and SI across 1–3 menstrual cycles. Participants completed the Stress and Adversity Inventory (STRAIN), which measures different stressor exposures (i.e. interpersonal loss, physical danger) throughout the life course, including before and after menarche. Multilevel polynomial growth models tested the relationship between menstrual cycle time and symptoms, moderated by stressor exposure.

Greater lifetime stressor exposure predicted a more pronounced perimenstrual increase in active SI, along with marginally significant similar patterns for negative affect and passive SI. Additionally, pre-menarche stressors significantly increased the cyclicity of active SI compared to post-menarche stressors. Exposure to more interpersonal loss stressors predicted greater perimenstrual symptom change of negative affect, passive SI and active SI. Exploratory item-level analyses showed that lifetime stressors moderated a more severe perimenstrual symptom trajectory for mood swings, anger/irritability, rejection sensitivity, and interpersonal conflict.

These findings suggest that greater lifetime stressor exposure may lead to heightened emotional reactivity to ovarian hormone fluctuations, elevating the risk of psychopathology.