Asking the right questions: How PMS question phrasing impacts responses in an English speaking, online sample

Asking the right questions: How PMS question phrasing impacts responses in an English speaking, online sample | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Asking the right questions: How PMS question phrasing impacts responses in an English speaking, online sample Gabriella S Kountourides, Alexandra Alvergne This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-1619419/v3 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 3 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Show more versions Abstract Purpose The discourse around menstrual cycles is often pathologized, potentially reinforcing negative perceptions of menstruation. The extent to which individuals have internalized the idea that bodily and social experiences before menstruation are the manifestation of ill-health, thereby biasing reports of premenstrual experiences towards negative emotions, remains unclear. Methods Using an online experimental design, we investigate whether phrasing the premenstrual experience as having both negative and positive dimensions would enable individuals to report more diverse and positive experiences than are reported in the absence of specific emotional prompts. Participants were recruited using a period tracker app and randomly allocated to one of three conditions: control (describe your premenstrual experience); treatment 1 (describe your positive and negative premenstrual experience); treatment 2 (describe your negative and positive premenstrual experience). Sentiment analysis was used to derive polarity scores, and a two-part Bayesian model assessed the impact of phrasing order. Results Among 2,637 participants, responses skewed negatively (mean -0.25). Compared to the control, treatments conditions 1 and 2 reported premenstrual experiences 64% and 62 % less negative, respectively. Positive themes, notably ‘sex, libido, and energy’ emerged. The absence of positive prompts in questioning led to more negative and less diverse reports. Conclusions These findings support existing literature on the predominance of negative premenstrual phases and underline the need to broaden measurements to encompass positive symptoms. The study also pioneer the use of text analysis for investigating premenstrual symptoms. Premenstrual change Sentiment analysis PMS Framing Bayesian statistics Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Supplementary Files Appendix.docx Supplementary Information Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 3 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Show more versions Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-1619419","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":295996021,"identity":"719ffb71-40d8-454d-90b1-755509ec8533","order_by":0,"name":"Gabriella S Kountourides","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABUklEQVRIie2RP0sDMRTAXzhIl9SuEeXyFRJusVDa0a+R4+Bc1LmgYEohXZSu5+B3cHQ8CbTLWddCl0rBSeXGDoeYqm3v6p9Z8H5Lkpf3473HAygp+ZMQAAl7uwB4GUGKAjTsscrB3yiUfMb5Ugl/V6Co2CeAyecUFLZ/N0inbUpqCvuz6k3m8onpjNPsvuX0YjQj0GRAQ5lTRHIcRDKhhMbYeNWEe3zkd+uXeuJ3zqUjIgiEomGcV9ShB762jcUVvVPV3L9OkL2oiUQRYJqCYyc9UHml/2SVV0pYQcmyUetdkXC2qTC6qKIo4TEerBXAMep8VDFWKTTG6UsAckCJMDgQV9rzthPUrV/owM7id0XEh0KTx/z4rH9k0Py04bpDLabP2nW3ksrDeJ41W6JnbmekfcJqlZDnq6xKOrCBUItl8i+LZGozc/31409JSUnJP+MNGlxxgMnioV4AAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"University of Oxford","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Gabriella","middleName":"S","lastName":"Kountourides","suffix":""},{"id":295996022,"identity":"b63e99d8-c9bb-41bf-9fad-f7aacd63b067","order_by":1,"name":"Alexandra Alvergne","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"ISEM, Univ Montpellier, CNRS, IRD","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Alexandra","middleName":"","lastName":"Alvergne","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2022-05-03 14:29:19","currentVersionCode":3,"declarations":{"humanSubjects":false,"vertebrateSubjects":false,"conflictsOfInterestStatement":false,"humanSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false,"humanSubjectConsent":false,"humanSubjectClinicalTrial":false,"humanSubjectCaseReport":false,"vertebrateSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false},"doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-1619419/v3","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-1619419/v3","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":55408556,"identity":"a62bfe47-a589-4b34-a551-61ecf4423291","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-04-26 22:34:12","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1427640,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"AskingtherightquestionsPaper25april2024.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-1619419/v3_covered_1ab9342a-9fc4-4cae-8f39-b224aa76eebd.pdf"},{"id":55408166,"identity":"f6acecae-6775-49c9-bd5d-fa1c405e5357","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-04-26 22:18:07","extension":"docx","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":5979139,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eSupplementary Information\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Appendix.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-1619419/v3/40870582e341d620ca5e8a92.docx"}],"financialInterests":"The authors declare no competing interests.","formattedTitle":"Asking the right questions: How PMS question phrasing impacts responses in an English speaking, online sample","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Premenstrual change, Sentiment analysis, PMS, Framing, Bayesian statistics","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-1619419/v3","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-1619419/v3","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003ePurpose\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe discourse around menstrual cycles is often pathologized, potentially reinforcing negative perceptions of menstruation. The extent to which individuals have internalized the idea that bodily and social experiences before menstruation are the manifestation of ill-health, thereby biasing reports of premenstrual experiences towards negative emotions, remains unclear.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMethods\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUsing an online experimental design, we investigate whether phrasing the premenstrual experience as having both negative and positive dimensions would enable individuals to report more diverse and positive experiences than are reported in the absence of specific emotional prompts. Participants were recruited using a period tracker app and randomly allocated to one of three conditions: control (describe your premenstrual experience); treatment 1 (describe your positive and negative premenstrual experience); treatment 2 (describe your negative and positive premenstrual experience). Sentiment analysis was used to derive polarity scores, and a two-part Bayesian model assessed the impact of phrasing order.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eResults\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAmong 2,637 participants, responses skewed negatively (mean -0.25). Compared to the control, treatments conditions 1 and 2 reported premenstrual experiences 64% and 62 % less negative, respectively. Positive themes, notably ‘sex, libido, and energy’ emerged. The absence of positive prompts in questioning led to more negative and less diverse reports.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eConclusions\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese findings support existing literature on the predominance of negative premenstrual phases and underline the need to broaden measurements to encompass positive symptoms. The study also pioneer the use of text analysis for investigating premenstrual symptoms.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Asking the right questions: How PMS question phrasing impacts responses in an English speaking, online sample","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":3,"date":"2024-04-26 22:18:02","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-1619419/v3","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}},{"code":2,"date":"2024-04-26 21:54:00","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-1619419/v2","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}},{"code":1,"date":"2022-05-04 19:36:29","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-1619419/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"c3adca59-2473-48a4-bcfb-e49c97640821","owner":[],"postedDate":"April 26th, 2024","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2022-10-10T11:14:31+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2024-04-26 22:18:02","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v3","identity":"rs-1619419","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-1619419","identity":"rs-1619419","version":["v3"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}