The effectiveness of activity scheduling and relaxation training in the treatment of spasmodic dysmenorrhea.

The first purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of activity scheduling as a treatment for spasmodic dysmenorrhea, compared to relaxation training (a treatment of demonstrated effectiveness) and to a waiting-list control condition. The second purpose was to examine the differential effectiveness of these treatments on different measures. Forty women suffering from spasmodic dysmenorrhea completed six individualized treatment sessions or remained on the waiting list. Results showed that both activity scheduling and relaxation training were effective treatments for spasmodic dysmenorrhea, with both treatments producing improvements on general measures of dysmenorrhea, a symptom severity measure, and an activity measure.