The Tapping Evidence Base
Other Physical Conditions

The effectiveness of Emotional Freedom Technique on menstrual pain and emotional regulation in female students

Mirhoseyni, F., Demehri, F., Azizi, M. · Journal of Child Mental Health · 2024

Randomized trial👥 30 participants⚖️ vs. control group (n=15) vs experimental group (n=15)Preliminary✓ Source-checked📍 Iran
In plain English. 30 adolescent girls with menstrual pain were randomly split into a group getting six weekly EFT sessions and a group getting nothing. The EFT group reported less menstrual pain and better emotional regulation skills afterward. It's a small quasi-experimental study in one school population, so broader replication is needed.

What they found

30
people took part

EFT had a significant effect on reduction of menstrual pain (P>0.002, as reported) and emotional regulation (cognitive reappraisal P<0.01, F=24.142; suppression P<0.01, F=21.272).

How the study worked

Who took partadolescent girls aged 12-18 in Yazd, Iran (n=30)
What they didIn a randomized controlled trial, participants were randomly assigned to receive tapping or a comparison condition, then measured and compared.
Compared withcontrol group (n=15) vs experimental group (n=15)
Measured withMcGill Pain Questionnaire (Persian version, MPQ), cognitive reappraisal and suppression measures

💡 Where this could help

If tapping keeps easing menstrual pain and helping teenagers regulate difficult emotions, it could give adolescent girls — whose menstrual pain is often dismissed or under-treated — a private, no-cost skill they can use themselves rather than relying on medication alone. Because it's self-taught, a teenager doesn't need a parent's help, a prescription, or a clinic visit to use it the next time symptoms hit.

🔬 What to study next

Menstrual pain has a real inflammatory and hormonal signature, so the next study should see whether tapping's effect on pain tracks with prostaglandin levels or inflammatory markers, not just the McGill Pain Questionnaire. Actigraphy could capture whether better emotional regulation translates into less pain-disrupted sleep during the cycle, and a multi-cycle design would show whether the benefit builds or fades with repeated use across several periods.

The full record

DesignRandomized trial
Participants30 people
Populationadolescent girls aged 12-18 in Yazd, Iran
Comparison groupcontrol group (n=15) vs experimental group (n=15)
Outcome measuresMcGill Pain Questionnaire (Persian version, MPQ), cognitive reappraisal and suppression measures
JournalJournal of Child Mental Health
Year2024
CountryIran
LanguageEnglish
MethodEFT / tapping
Publication typeStudy / trial
Verification✓ Confirmed against the primary source

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Cite this study

APA

Mirhoseyni, F., Demehri, F., & Azizi, M. (2024). The effectiveness of Emotional Freedom Technique on menstrual pain and emotional regulation in female students. Journal of Child Mental Health. https://doi.org/10.52547/jcmh.11.3.6

This record is part of the Tapping Evidence Base — an openly-sourced, fully-referenced directory of the research on EFT/tapping. Explore more studies on Other Physical Conditions

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THE TAPPING EVIDENCE BASE Other Physical Conditions 30 participants WHAT THEY FOUND EFT had a significant effect on reduction ofmenstrual pain (P>0.002, as reported) andemotional regulation… Randomized trial · 30 participants Mirhoseyni · 2024 · evidence.thetappingsolution.com