Abstract
Aims: Knowledge of prevailing community ideas about mood determination can guide research about variability in mood. A random sample of urban Canadian women, aged 18–40 years (n = 507), was asked to compare the relative importance of three specified domains (physical health, social support, stress) as influences on their mood and then to list additional life experiences they considered important. They also rated the frequency and recurrence patterns (cyclicity) of their daily positive and negative moods. Results: More women reported a positive overall mood than negative mood. Of three domains studied, social support was listed as the greatest influence on positive mood and stress on negative mood in the bivariate tests. More frequent moods (both positive and negative) were more likely to be viewed as recurrent or cyclical. Patterns of influence for positive mood differed from those for negative mood. Multivariate modeling found that women reporting frequent positive mood were more often North American and employed full-time and likely to consider stress or lack of stress was unimportant as an influence on positive mood. The only factors in the model associated with frequent negative mood were the perception of physical health and stress as important influences on negative mood. Less than 5% cited menstrual cycle phase as an influence. Conclusions: These subjective data suggest that women perceived a wide range of external, usually interpersonal, influences as relevant to their mood, however menstrual cycle was rarely mentioned. Perceptions of influences on mood are statistically related to frequency of moods. In addition, ethnicity and paid employment are independently associated with positive mood.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.