Recollections of early menarche

Pages: 1072-1076
Jini K. Gopinath and Melbin James (Department of Psychology, Christ University, Bangalore)

Menarche is an important milestone in a female life cycle. Researchers have found a secular trend in puberty in India among girls whereby the age at puberty is coming down and menarche is considered as the most reliable measure of female puberty. Menarche as such is regarded as stressful among adolescent girls. So when it occurs earlier, it has considerable consequences which would last lifelong. So it is important to see the experiences of early menarche specially the emotions associated with it as the young girls go through this. A qualitative method was adopted to understand the experiences of early menarche. The sample consisted of 12 adolescent girls of 10-11 age range. In- depth interviews were taken and the data was analyzed using thematic analysis. The obtained results provide insight in to the emotional trouble that these young girls go through and the necessity of creating awareness among parents and professionals on imparting the knowledge and providing support for the young adolescents.