How menstrual sensitivity shapes well-being in female athletes: The mediating role of rumination and the buffering effect of resilient coping.

Menstrual experiences are an often-overlooked yet influential aspect of female athletes' psychological functioning. This study examines how menstrual sensitivity relates to well-being among female athletes by investigating the mediating roles of brooding and reflective rumination and the moderating role of resilient coping. Menstrual sensitivity is conceptualized as a generalized, trait-like biopsychosocial perception of attunement and reactivity to menstrual symptoms, and well-being is operationalized using the World Health Organization framework of positive mood, vitality, and general interest in life. Using a cross-sectional design, data were collected from 438 female university athletes in China and analyzed with partial least squares structural equation modeling. The results indicate that menstrual sensitivity is negatively associated with well-being and positively related to both forms of rumination. Brooding rumination emerges as the stronger maladaptive pathway linking menstrual sensitivity to reduced well-being, while reflective rumination also contributes negatively, albeit to a lesser extent. Moreover, resilient coping is associated with a weaker overall adverse relationship between menstrual sensitivity and well-being, consistent with a moderated mediation pattern. Because the design is cross-sectional and assessment was not anchored to menstrual cycle phase, findings are interpreted as associations among generalized perceptions rather than as causal or phase-specific effects. Together, the findings highlight the importance of cognitive processes and coping resources in shaping female athletes' well-being and underscore the need for more female-specific and gender-sensitive psychological models in sport contexts.