engleski

Adolescent girls’ emotional reaction to menarche: the role of significant other.

Menarche is a key pubertal change for girls which is accompanied by different psychosocial changes, both pleasant and unpleasant, shaped by cultural and societal influences. This study aimed to examine: (1) the main source of information about menstruation before menarche among Croatian girls, (2) to whom girls confide about menarche and how they perceive the response of the significant other, (3) the role of preparedness and response of significant other for emotional reaction to menarche in adolescent girls. Postmenarcheal girls (N = 246) from primary and secondary schools from Croatia filled out the Expected/Experienced Emotions related to Menarche Scale measuring pleasant and unpleasant emotional reactions ; Preparedness for the Menarche ; Significant Other’s Responses to Girl’s Menarche Checklist measuring informational support and positive emotional responses ; and a set of specific questions. For most adolescent girls, the mother is both the main source of information (97.2%) and the first person to confide about the menarche (83.7%). Girls perceived the response of the significant other more as informational support (such as providing information on the use of sanitary products) than as positive emotional response. However, the positive emotional response of the significant other, together with higher levels of preparedness, predicted higher levels of girl’s pleasant personal experience at menarche. Psychoeducation should be focused both on girls and their mothers so they could know how to prepare their daughters timely and respond positively to this important event.

menarche ; menstruation ; preparedness ; mother ; puberty

Emocionalna reakcija djevojaka na menarhu: uloga značajne druge osobe Sažetak: Menarha je ključna promjena za djevojke u pubertetu, koja je praćena različitim psihosocijalnim promjenama, kako ugodnim tako i neugodnim, koje oblikuju kulturalni i socijalni utjecaji. Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je ispitati: (1) tko je glavni izvor informacija o menstruaciji prije menarhe djevojkama u Hrvatskoj, (2) kome se djevojke povjeravaju o menarhi i kako doživljavaju reakciju značajne druge osobe te (3) ulogu pripremljenosti i reakcije značajne druge osobe u emocionalnoj reakciji na menarhu kod adolescentica. Postmenarhalne djevojke (N = 246) iz osnovnih i srednjih škola u Hrvatskoj ispunile su: Upitnik očekivanih/doživljenih emocionalnih reakcija na menarhu, Skalu pripremljenosti za menarhu, Listu za označavanje reakcije značajne druge osobe na menarhu, te niz specifičnih pitanja. Za većinu adolescentica majka je i glavni izvor informacija (97,2%) i prva osoba kojoj se povjere o menarhi (83,7%). Djevojke doživljavaju reakciju značajne druge osobe više kao informacijsku podršku (kao što je pružanje informacija o uporabi higije