Physical and Emotional Abuse By Parents, Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) and Depression Among the Adolescent Girls in South Korea

Background/Purpose: Parental abuse during early life can significantly impact the long-term physical, emotional, and psychological well-being of children. Adolescent girls, in particular, may experience symptoms such as premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and depression. Therefore, it is crucial to provide comprehensive support for the physical and mental health needs of adolescent girls, especially in the context of South Korea’s low birth rate and the societal emphasis on the health of adolescent girls. While there has been extensive research on the effects of abuse on adolescent well-being, there has been relatively little research on understanding the specific connections between PMS and depression. This study aims to investigate the structural relationship between child abuse, PMS, and depression among adolescent girls in South Korea. The focus is on identifying pathways through which both physical and emotional abuse contribute to the development of PMS and subsequent depression.

Methods: A pathway analysis was conducted on a sample of 2,888 adolescent girls aged 14 to 19 years who had started menstruation and had living parents. The primary aim was to identify the ‘Physical/Emotional Abuse → PMS → Depression’ model. Physical and emotional abuse were assessed based on the participants’ self-reports of parental abuse experiences. PMS was determined by the presence of somatic symptoms, such as breast tenderness, abdominal bloating, headaches, and lower limb swelling, during the five days before menstruation over the last three menstrual cycles. Depression was evaluated using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). The path analysis, which was performed using AMOS version 24.0, controlled for daily-life stress and self-perceived health status.

Results: The study identified that 10.7% of adolescent girls (n = 310) reported experiencing physical victimization, while 14.6% (n = 678) reported emotional victimization. Adolescent girls who were physically victimized reported the highest level of somatic complaints related to PMS. Additionally, the group that experienced physical victimization exhibited the highest level of depression, followed by the emotionally victimized group and those who did not report victimization. The analysis examined the relationship between abuse type, premenstrual syndrome (PMS), and depression using two-step model. The first pathway model, ‘Physical Abuse → PMS → Depression’, revealed a significant association. This indicates that physical abuse had a significant effect on depression through PMS (95% BCI = .098 to .219). However, the second pathway model, ‘Emotional Abuse → PMS → Depression’, did not show a significant association. Instead, the analysis indicated a direct pathway of ‘Emotional Abuse → Depression’.

Conclusions/Implications: The results suggest that physical abuse has a significant impact on the somatic and psychological well-being of adolescent girls. This is evidenced by the elevated somatic complaints related to PMS among physically victimized girls. The results demonstrate a significant association between physical abuse, PMS symptoms, and depression, highlighting the need for targeted interventions to address the multifaceted consequences of physical victimization during adolescence. Conversely, the absence of a significant association between emotional abuse and PMS indicates a need for future research to clarify the complex interactions between emotional abuse, PMS symptoms, and depression among adolescent girls.