Menarcheal experience, beliefs about and attitudes toward menstruation in Mexico: Changes in the last 20 years

Abstract

We explored how menarcheal experiences and attitudes toward menstruation of Mexican adolescents have changed in the last 20 years. Two questionnaires were applied to female adolescent students, and the results were compared with those obtained in 2002–3 when adolescents of the same ages were surveyed using the same questionnaires. Although some aspects of menstrual education have not changed, the secrecy surrounding menstruation has diminished. In contrast, the belief that menstruation is disabling and keeps women from their normal activities has increased. It is important that adolescents receive adequate preparation about psychosocial and physical aspects of the menstrual cycle.

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Filogonia Hernández, Pedro López Hernandez, Esequiel Domínguez Alvarez, Tania Camacho, Norma Moreno Zarco, and Juan Carlos Martínez, who assisted us in the collection of data. The authors wish to thank Consejo Nacional de Humanidades Ciencias y Tecnologías of Mexico for the scholarship awarded to the second author to study the MA in Integrative Biology (Universidad Veracruzana), since this article is part of her MA project.

Disclosure statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.