Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1 School of Nursing, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA
2 School of Nursing and Midwifery, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Iran
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Adolescent girls experience physical, psychological, and social changes during
puberty. Lack of sufficient information, skills, and readiness to overcome this stressful situation make
them vulnerable. The present study aims to assess the level of knowledge, attitude, and strategy
used for coping with puberty crises of female secondary school students in Karaj, Iran.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Five‑hundred and seventy female secondary school students from
Karaj, Iran participated in this cross‑sectional study. Knowledge, attitudes, and coping strategies of
adolescents about puberty were evaluated using various questionnaires. The obtained data were
analyzed using Chi‑square, Fisher’s exact, Kruskal–Wallis, Mann–Whitney, and Spearman tests.
RESULTS: The average age of participants was 15.28 ± 1.58 years old. About 85.1% of the
participants had high knowledge about puberty and 66.7% had a good attitude toward it. Nearly, 54.2%
of the girls used the avoidance‑oriented coping strategy. There was no significant relationship between
knowledge and attitude regarding selective strategies to cope with stressful situations in puberty.
CONCLUSION: According to the results, continuous training in secondary schools is necessary to
improve adolescents’ knowledge and attitudes toward puberty. Moreover, more training is required
to change the dominant avoidance‑oriented coping strategy to a task‑oriented approach, especially
at the first‑grade level in secondary school.
Keywords
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