Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Relations Of Emotional Functioning And Hormonal Contraceptive Use In Umaine Female Students, Shannen Fitzjurls

Honors College

The purpose of this study was to examine the relations of hormonal contraceptive use to emotional functioning in biological women. Hormonal contraceptives contain one of two hormones, progestin and estrogen, which are key regulatory hormones in women. Estrogen and progestin help to regulate brain networks and processes related to changes in stress response, cognition, and emotion regulation. Participants included 86 female college students, ages 18-25, who responded to measures that assessed hormonal contraceptive use, depressive symptoms, relationship quality, and mood. Results revealed no significant differences in depressive symptoms or mood states between women using hormonal contraceptives (51% of the sample) …