Experiments were carried out in naive and handled female white rats at the oestrus and dioestrus stages. The elevated plus-maze was used for anxiety measurements. Handled female rats, as compared with the naive ones at the same stage, showed much lower anxiety scores and higher general level of activity. No statistically significant effect of the oestrus cycle was observed in the naive rats, and the handled ones showed significant decrease of anxiety and increase of general level of activity during the oestrus stage.