New study links menstrual cycle to emotional struggles in autistic women

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Inclusion criteria: Common Inclusion Criteria for Healthy Patients and Volunteers: * Female aged 18 to 45; * Woman with regular menstrual cycles (variations in duration, measured between the shortest menstrual cycle) and the longest cycle, remain strictly less than 7 days) between 25 and 35 days; * Woman without hormonal contraception (or NON-hormonal copper IUD) or who has stopped contraception for more than 3 months (and does not wish to take it again); * Woman with a smartphone with an internet connection; * Woman able to understand the objectives and risks of the research and to give informed, dated and signed consent; * Woman affiliated to a social protection health insurance scheme, beneficiary or beneficiary. Patient-specific inclusion criteria: * Specific inclusion criteria for female patients * Patient with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder without intellectual disability (ASD), according to DSM-5 criteria OR * Patient with a diagnosis of BPD, according to DSM-5 criteria OR * Patient meeting the diagnostic criteria for PMDD with the SCID Exclusion criteria: Non-inclusion criteria common to healthy patients and volunteers: * Taking hormonal treatment or synthetic steroids; * Woman using hormonal contraceptives (pill, patch, hormonal IUD, vaginal ring, implant, intramuscular injection); * Pregnancy or breastfeeding on the declaration of the person for less than 3 months; * Desire to become pregnant within 3 months of inclusion; * Endocrinopathies (in particular clinical signs of hyperandrogenism) or untreated gynaecological pathologies that may influence menstrual cycles and/or ovulation; * Participation in another study that may interfere with the study; * Inability to give the person informed information (person in an emergency or life-threatening situation); * Woman under judicial protection; * Woman under guardianship or curatorship; * Woman hospitalized for a period \> 24 hours Patient-specific non-inclusion criteria: * Patient with a diagnosis of psychotic disorder; * Patient with a diagnosis of severe substance use disorder, i.e., presence of 6 or more symptoms; * Patient with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder type I or II or cyclothymia; * Patient with a diagnosis of co-occurring ASD and BPD; * Patient with an intellectual disability (IQ ≤ 70); * Patient with neurological comorbidity (e.g., acquired brain injury); * Patient on treatment that alters physiological response (heart rhythm, e.g., beta-blockers). Non-inclusion criteria specific to healthy volunteers: \- Woman with a psychiatric, neurodevelopmental, or neurological history;