Monthly mood and emotion regulation changes linked to alcohol misuse in premenopausal women
Official title: Cyclical deficits in emotion regulation as a risk factor for alcohol misuse in premenopausal females
Funded at University of Southern California · NIH-11327304 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks at whether monthly mood swings and changes in heart-rate patterns make premenopausal women more likely to misuse alcohol.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Southern California NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Los Angeles, UNITED STATES) |
| Project start | May 1, 2023 |
| Project end | February 29, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $550,475 |
| NIH project number | 5R01AA030065-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11327304 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Premenopausal women who drink alcohol and are willing to track daily symptoms and alcohol use and wear a heart-rate monitor across menstrual cycles, especially those who notice premenstrual mood changes.
✕Less likely to help
Women who are postmenopausal, do not have menstrual cycles, or do not drink alcohol would not be expected to benefit directly from this research.
What this research studies
If you join, researchers will follow you through several menstrual cycles and ask you to report daily mood and drinking patterns while you wear a small sensor that measures heart-rate variability (a marker of emotional regulation). They will determine who has clinically significant premenstrual mood symptoms (dPMDD) and compare your patterns to those of women without these symptoms. By combining daily reports with physiological data, the team aims to see whether times of worse emotion regulation line up with increased alcohol use. The approach uses noninvasive monitoring, brief surveys, and periodic clinic visits.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could help pinpoint high-risk times in the cycle and guide targeted prevention or support to reduce alcohol misuse in premenopausal women.
How similar studies have gone: Prior work has linked lower heart-rate variability and premenstrual mood symptoms with alcohol use, but combining daily physiological monitoring across cycles to predict drinking is a relatively new approach.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Pang, Raina — University of Southern California
- Study coordinator: Pang, Raina
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.