Experience of Menarche Among Jordanian Adolescent Girls: An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis
Abstract
Study objective Menarche is a significant physical and emotional experience for adolescent girls, especially in certain cultures, where it is viewed as a rite of passage, affecting the meaning of lived experiences. The purpose of the study was to explore the menarche experience among Jordanian adolescent girls when they reach menarche.Design Interpretive phenomenological analysis.Setting Az-Zarqa City, Jordan.Participants, interventions, and main outcome measures A homogenous sample of 7 Jordanian girls, ages 12-14 years, who had their first menstruation within the past 6 months. Participants were asked to narrate their experiences through journal writing; their reports to be used for interpretive phenomenological analyses by 2 independent researchers, to ensure the findings' trustworthiness.Results Three major themes emerged as: (1) menstruation as a forbidden topic; (2) keeping the "topic" to oneself; and (3) no more secrets. Each theme was characterized according to distinct sets of emotions and knowledge-seeking patterns because Jordanian culture and Islamic teachings had greatly influenced the girls' experience of menarche. Menarche was considered a social taboo; not to be openly discussed. At the first signs of menarche, participants were shocked, scared, confused, and anxious. They had limited information and support from their family or school system. Therefore, they relied on self-perceptions about menarche, and viewed the experience of menstruation with profound negative emotions. Participants hesitated to share their experiences with their mothers and close friends. They felt alone and experienced their emotional turmoil in isolation and without support.Conclusion Jordanian adolescent girls need formal health education to understand and manage the reproductive changes that occur in their bodies.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Less explicit taboos such as expectations of cleanliness, female propriety, and secrecy around menstruation were 'enforced by adults in the community through signals and gestures'.
“Less explicit taboos such as expectations of cleanliness, female propriety, and secrecy around menstruation were ‘enforced by adults in the community through signals and gestures’”
From Women’s and girls’ experiences of menstruation in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review and qualitative metasynthesis (2019) · cites this paper as [33]
Cites
Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis: Theory, Method and Research
(2010) · QMiP Bulletin · doi:10.53841/bpsqmip.2010.1.10.44 · Cited by 8,189 · see citing works
Merikangas, K. R., He, J.-P., Burstein, M., Swanson, S. A., Avenevoli, S., Cui, L., Benjet, C., Georgiades, K., & Swendsen, J. (2010) · Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2010.05.017 · Cited by 6,278 · see citing works
Qualitative Research in Nursing: Advancing the Humanistic Imperative
Streubert, H. J., & Carpenter, D. R. (2007) · Andalas University Repository (Andalas University) · Cited by 3,209 · see citing works
Qualitative research in nursing - Advancing the humanistic imperative
Botes, A. (1996) · Health SA Gesondheid · doi:10.4102/hsag.v1i1.304 · Cited by 1,756 · see citing works
Chrisler, J. C. (2011) · Psychology of Women Quarterly · doi:10.1177/0361684310397698 · Cited by 210 · see citing works
Socio-cultural aspects of menstruation in an urban slum in Delhi, India
Garg, S., Sharma, N., & Sahay, R. (2001) · Reproductive Health Matters · doi:10.1016/s0968-8080(01)90004-7 · Cited by 183 · see citing works
Menstruation across time: Menarche, menstrual attitudes, experiences, and behaviors
McPherson, M. E., & Korfine, L. (2004) · Women s Health Issues · doi:10.1016/j.whi.2004.08.006 · Cited by 134 · see citing works
YOUNG WESTERN WOMEN'S EXPERIENCES OF MENARCHE AND MENSTRUATION
Beausang, C. C. (2000) · Health Care For Women International · doi:10.1080/07399330050130304 · Cited by 122 · see citing works
Women's menarche stories from a multicultural sample
Üskül, A. K. (2003) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2003.11.031 · Cited by 109 · see citing works
Attitudes and feelings towards menstruation and womanhood in girls at menarche
Rembeck, G. I., Möller, M., & Gunnarsson, R. K. (2006) · Acta Paediatrica · doi:10.1080/08035250500531697 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
Psychosocial correlates of emotional responses to menarche among chinese adolescent girls
Tang, C. S., Yeung, D. Y.-L., & Lee, A. M. (2003) · Journal of Adolescent Health · doi:10.1016/s1054-139x(03)00049-1 · Cited by 67 · see citing works
Marván, M. L., & Molina-Abolnik, M. (2012) · Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology · doi:10.1016/j.jpag.2012.05.003 · Cited by 66 · see citing works
Britton, C. J. (1996) · Women s Studies International Forum · doi:10.1016/s0277-5395(96)00085-4 · Cited by 65 · see citing works
Lee, J. (2008) · Journal of Family Issues · doi:10.1177/0192513x08316117 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
Age at menarche, menstrual patterns, and menstrual characteristics in Jordanian adolescent girls
Bata, M. (2012) · International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics · doi:10.1016/j.ijgo.2012.07.009 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Emotional Reactions to Menarche Among Mexican Women of Different Generations
Marván, M. L., Morales, C., & Cortés-Iniestra, S. (2006) · Sex Roles · doi:10.1007/s11199-006-9002-6 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
Menarche among Brazilian women: memories of experiences
do Amaral, M. C. E., Hardy, E., & Hebling, E. M. (2011) · Midwifery · doi:10.1016/j.midw.2009.05.008 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Age at menarche in Jordanian girls
Ammari, F. L., Ajlouni, H. K., & Ajlouni, K. M. (2004) · Saudi Medical Journal · doi:10.15537/1658-3175.2332 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Young women's perspectives on public health knowledge and adolescent bodies
Oinas, E. (1999) · Scandinavian Journal of Public Health · doi:10.1177/14034948990270041101 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Determination of the Motherly Reactions to Adolescents' Experience of Menarche
Özdemir, F., Nazik, E., & Pasinlioğlu, T. (2009) · Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology · doi:10.1016/j.jpag.2009.09.001 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Yücel, B., & Polat, A. (2003) · Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics & Gynecology · doi:10.3109/01674820309074687 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Determination of the Motherly Reactions to Adolescents’ Experience of Menarche–II
Özdemir, F., Nazik, E., & Pasinlioğlu, T. (2010) · Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology · doi:10.1016/j.jpag.2010.06.004 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis: The Lived Experience of Adolescents with Cancer
Omari, O. A., & Wynaden, D. (2014) · SAGE Publications Ltd eBooks · doi:10.4135/978144627305014535708 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Hennegan, J., Shannon, A. K., Rubli, J., Schwab, K. J., & Melendez-Torres, G. J. (2019) · PLOS Medicine · doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1002803 · Cited by 577 · see citing works
- Authors
- Al Omari, O., Abdel Razeq, N. M., & Fooladi, M. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Jordan (JO)
- Venue
- Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2016-06
- Volume
- 29
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 246-251
- ISSN
- 0932-8610 (ISSN-L)
- 1083-3188
- OpenAlex
- W1898162000
- Cited by
- 42
- References
- 23
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 2
- FWCI
- 2.50
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- eSpace (Curtin University) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Menstrual Health and Disorders
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Reproductive Medicine › Hypothalamic control of reproductive hormones
- Keywords
- menarche, adolescent girls, menstrual experience, social taboos, cultural taboos, Islamic teachings, family support, emotional distress, reproductive health education, Jordanian culture, rites of passage
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Anxiety, Child, Emotions, Fear, Female, Humans, Jordan, Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice, Menarche, Menstruation, Mothers, Surveys and Questionnaires, Self Concept, Social Support, Qualitative Research
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
