Menarchal age and the stress of war: an example from Bosnia.
The aim of this study was to examine the influence of very low socioeconomic status, physical injury and psychological trauma on the menarchal age of deported girls who lived in besieged Srebrenica, a town that had a highly disrupted environment from the end of 1992 to mid 1995. The Srebrenica girls had a significantly higher mean menarchal age compared with a control group who lived mainly in peaceful communities in the unoccupied territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results show that psychological trauma, physical injury and low socioeconomic status, which provoked by the events of war, delay the age of menarche.
Tahirović
H F
HF
University Clinical Centre, Paediatric Clinic, Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
D000293:Adolescent; D017677:Age Distribution; D017522:Bosnia and Herzegovina; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008572:Menarche / Q000523:psychology*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D014857:Warfare