Attitudes and feelings towards menstruation and womanhood in girls at menarche.
OBJECTIVE
To elucidate early adolescent girls' attitudes, thoughts and feelings towards menstruation and their bodies.


METHODS
309 12-y-old girls answered questionnaires. One part of the questionnaire dealt with thoughts and feelings towards menstruation. The other part dealt with thoughts and feelings towards menstruation and sex and ability to communicate on aspects of womanhood.


RESULTS
Postmenarcheal girls were less positive towards menstruation than premenarcheal girls (p = 1 x 10(-6)). Many girls (43%) did not reaffirm the statement "I like my body" and almost one quarter stated being teased for their appearance. Many of the girls claimed that they had been called "cunt" (38%) or "whore" (46%). If called "cunt" or "whore", 17% stated that they felt alone, 76% felt anger and 50% were offended. Mothers were those with whom girls could most easily "chat" about their period. Sixty-seven per cent received information about menstruation from school nurses.


CONCLUSIONS
Wanting to be an adult and liking that their body develops seem to be associated with a more positive feeling towards menstruation. Furthermore, mothers' timing and ability to communicate attitudes towards menstruation and the body are as important as those in a girl's immediate environment.
Rembeck
Gun I
GI
Youth Centre in Lerum, Primary Healthcare, Southern Alvsborg County, Sweden. gun.rembeck@vgregion.se
Möller
Margareta
M
Gunnarsson
Ronny K
RK
D001290:Attitude; D002648:Child; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008598:Menstruation / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires