Some women experience premenstrual syndrome (PMS), and its more severe \npresentation as premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), which seriously limits their \ncoping ability in daily life, including their parenting ability. Social workers routinely \nassess parenting ability, giving rise to the question, “How does the premenstrual \nknowledge of social workers influence whether and what they ask in their assessment \npractices with mothers?” \nThe heavily debated premenstrual literature rests on four approaches. After these \nperspectives, an enhanced biopsychosocial framework (BPS-E) is used to examine the \npremenstrual knowledge of social workers and their conversations about PMS/PMDD as \nthey assess women’s parenting. This exploratory study used a triangulated convergence \ndesign, generating data from both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. In the first \nphase, 521 social workers completed a Premenstrual Experience Knowledge \nQuestionnaire (PEKQ) created for this research. In the qualitative phase, inspired by an \ninterpretative phenomenological approach, 16 social workers described in interviews \ntheir premenstrual knowledge and its impact, if any, on their assessment practices with \nmothers. \nMost social workers had limited knowledge of PMS/PMDD, most crucially a) the \nPMDD DSM-V classification, b) increased suicide attempts during the premenstruum, \nand c) the effectiveness of SSRI anti-depressants in moderating the symptoms of PMDD. \nAlso, the greater the interference of social workers’ own premenstrual symptoms on their \ndaily living and the more premenstrual training they had received, the higher their \npremenstrual knowledge scores. Very few social workers in this study (5.1%) addressed premenstrual symptoms with their female clients. However, a statistically significant \nrelationship existed in this sample between asking female clients about PMS/PMDD and \nsocial workers’ (a) age, (b) premenstrual knowledge scores, (c) premenstrual training, \nand (d) the degree to which the premenstrual symptoms of female social workers \ninterfered in their own daily living. \nThese results can direct social work education and practice. Not asking about \nPMS/PMDD symptoms could have negative outcomes, particularly in child protection, \nwhere the safety needs of children could remain unaddressed. Conversely, women who \ntell uninformed or disapproving social workers about their premenstrual symptoms might \nbe further subjected to mother-blame, stigmatization, or punitive interventions.
Authors: Lynn Barry
Publish Year: 2016
