Attitude toward Menstruation, Menstrual Symptoms, and Coping Behaviors among Korean Primary School Student

Abstract

This paper is a descriptive study that aims to investigate attitudes towards menstruation, symptoms and coping behaviors in order to develop a program for building positive attitudes toward menstruation in primary school students. The mean age of menarche was 12.3 years, and students generally showed negative attitudes towards menstruation. Students who experienced menarche had relatively more positive attitudes than those who did not. However, no significant difference was exhibited. Menstrual symptoms occurred rarely or at a moderate level by showing a low score of 2.12 points. Of all sub-factors, 'pain' was the most serious. The most common coping behaviors during menstruation was 'I take a warm shower' and 'I take a rest or nap', while respondents rarely checked 'I take vitamin B supplements' and 'I take painkiller'. Based on the above findings, the study intends to perform a systematic study to further identify the factors affecting menstrual attitudes in primary school students. In addition, this paper suggests effective healthcare education on menstruation to build positive attitudes towards menstruation and education and counseling programs for adopting appropriate coping strategies to deal with menstrual symptoms.■ keyword :|Menarche|Attitude|Symptom|Coping Behavior| * 본 연구는 호원대학교 연구비지원으로 수행되었습니다.

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