Menstrual cycle variations in stress vulnerability and sociability relate to mental health symptoms and libido

Previous studies have suggested the high-estradiol peri-ovulatory phase as a window of resilience, and the luteal phase, characterised by changing progesterone levels, as a window of vulnerability to stress-related disorders. Using an intensive longitudinal design over 75 days, the current study explored whether stress vulnerability and resilience were reflected in menstrual cycle-related shifts in personality facets. In a sample of 68 healthy female participants aged 18 to 35 years, we observed increased stress vulnerability, decreased sociability, and decreased non-antagonistic orientation during the peri-menstrual phase. Changes in stress vulnerability were both preceded and followed by changes in mental health symptoms (depression, anxiety, mood lability, irritability), while changes in mental health symptoms followed-but did not precede-sociability and non-antagonistic orientation. These results suggest that personality facet shifts along the menstrual cycle precede changes in mental health symptoms, though the personality facets explored in the current study did not fully account for menstrual cycle-related changes in these symptoms.