This was a longitudinal study, taking place across 4 years and looking into women who are entering the transitional phase between menstruation and menopause. They predicted that: history of depression would be the strongest predictor of perimenopausal depression and hormonal fluctuation, particularly estrogen, would be associated with depressive symptoms. Both of these hypotheses were supported.

This study also addressed race: the races of the participants were noted and numbered in the paper. After controlling for a variety of variables, black women were still two times as likely as white women to report depressive symptoms. This can be due to psychosocial factors which strongly affect and are affected by race. 

Conclusions of the Study

This study controlled for variables such as history of depression, age, PMS, poor sleep, hot flashes, race, and employment status. These controls allowed the researchers to understand where depressive symptoms could be coming from, while also acknowledging potential reasons for variation in results. 

It had been found in previous studies that the risk of major depressive disorder for those assigned female at birth is highest during reproductive years due to the constant hormonal fluctuation; this laid the foundation for their study. Previous studies had found that administration of estrogen for women experiencing perimenopausal depressed seemed to effectively reduce depressive symptoms. 

Context for the Study

Freeman, E. W., Sammel, M. D., Liu, L., Gracia, C. R., Nelson, D. B., & Hollander, L. (2004). Hormones and menopausal status as predictors of depression in women in transition to menopause. Archives of general psychiatry, 61(1), 62-70.

Rutgers University

References for Hormonal Influences on Mental Health

References for PMDD

References for the Menstrual Cycle & Mental Health

References for Pregnancy & Mental Health

Why is depression more prevalent in women?. Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, 40(4), 219-221.

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