The Stressor in Adolescence of Menstruation: Coping Strategies, Emotional Stress & Impacts on School Absences among Young Women in Nepal

Abstract

Throughout the developing world, girls face hardships surrounding menstruation, often resulting in poor emotional wellbeing and missing school. Providing ways to keep girls in school will increase their educational and earning potentials, which will ultimately trickle down to improving the economic standing of nations in the next generation. Informed by the Transactional Model of Stress and Coping, this work evaluates the roles that cultural and school environments play in appraisals of menstruation as a major life stressor for adolescent females and the impacts of emotional stress on missing school. Using primary survey data from schools in Nepal, robust results are found to support the theoretical framework based on conditional mixed-process (CMP) estimation with fixed effects, utilizing multiple index building techniques. Strong cultural norms during menstruation appear to increase the probability of girls self-reporting emotional stress, while the presence of hygiene supporting infrastructure at schools reduces this outcome. Furthermore, there is strong support for the finding that the presence of emotional stress during menstruation increases the likelihood of not only missing school but also for an extended period of time. Our findings motivate increasing government policies to provide stronger hygiene infrastructure in schools to improve successful coping skills and attendance rates.

Mekanisme Koping dalam Menghadapi Menarche pada Santriwati

“…Santri yang mengaplikasikan mekanisme koping adaptif dalam menetralisir stresnya, maka akan menurunkan level stress yang dirasakan dan sebaliknya apabila menggunakan koping maladaptive, level stress juga akan meningkat (Andayani et al, 2021). Di negara-negara berkembang, anak perempuan menghadapi kesulitan seputar menstruasi, yang seringkali mengakibatkan buruknya kesejahteraan emosional dan tidak masuk sekolah (Yilmaz et al, 2021). Sehingga, dengan penggunaan koping yang adaptif dalam menghindari dampak psikologis yang disebabkan oleh menarche.…”

“…Meskipun santriwati tidak tinggal dengan orangtua, namun dukungan juga didapatkan dari teman di asrama atau kakak kelas, hal ini juga menjadi dukungan sosial yang memperkuat permasalahan yang dihadapi selama menarche. Salah satu bentuk dukungan kuat terhadap temuan bahwa adanya stres emosional selama menstruasi meningkatkan kemungkinan tidak hanya bolos sekolah tetapi juga untuk jangka waktu yang lama (Yilmaz et al, 2021).…”

Analysis of Factors Affecting the Stress Level and Self-Medication Practice in Primary Dysmenorrhea in Adolescents during COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Specific stressors that affect stressful conditions for adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic are difficulties in accessing health services, changes in the family economy caused by the pandemic, distance learning and parental work (Al Dhaheri et al, 2021). In addition, stress not only occurs due to the pandemic but also due to parenting patterns, parents' occupation and economy, relationship status, nutritional status, and environmental conditions (Bae et al, 2018;Haeriyah et al, 2019;Yilmaz et al, 2021).…”

Family Context Matters: Exploring Family Environmental Factors That Influence the Development and Performance of Religio-Cultural Menstrual Practices in Far-West Nepal

“…These studies have identified two major motives for the performance of menstrual restrictions: a prevalent negative religious connotation with menstrual blood in Nepalese communities and female community members' strict conformity to community norms and traditions (Amatya et al, 2018;Hennegan et al, 2019;Mukherjee et al, 2020;UNICEF, 2018;UN Nepal, 2020). Some studies elaborated on the various consequences that performing menstrual rituals have on different aspects of the health of postmenarche girls and women in the community, including their physical, reproductive, and mental health (Amatya et al, 2018;Ranabhat et al, 2015;Yilmaz et al, 2021). Other studies navigate the implications of religio-cultural menstrual practices on gender socialisation within the local population, focusing on how these cultural practices may instil negative feelings in the members of the menstruating population, leading to negative gender socialisation and gender identity within those populations (Rothchild & Piya, 2020;UNICEF, 2021).…”