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Taiwanese adolescents’ gender differences in knowledge and attitudes towards menstruation
Author(s) -
Cheng ChingYu,
Yang Kyeongra,
Liou ShwuRu
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
nursing and health sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.563
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1442-2018
pISSN - 1441-0745
DOI - 10.1111/j.1442-2018.2007.00312.x
Subject(s) - menstruation , sex education , medicine , psychology , cross sectional study , developmental psychology , family medicine , clinical psychology , population , environmental health , pathology
The purpose of the study was to explore gender differences in knowledge and attitudes towards menstruation among Taiwanese adolescents. This study was a secondary data analysis of a cross‐sectional comparison study conducted in Taiwan. A total of 287 female and 269 male students at a junior high school participated in the study. The results showed that almost all the students had heard about menstruation and most of them had received menstrual information at school. However, their knowledge about menstruation was not accurate. Moreover, the male students expressed more negative attitudes towards menstruation than the female students. Taboos were heard by most students and, although many female students doubted the reality of the taboos they had heard, they observed them anyway. The study calls for an evaluation of sex education and suggests more open discussions about menstruation among young people in those education sessions. In addition, school nurses and obstetrical/gynecological nurses should be involved more in adolescents’ sexual education.