While much research has been done to broaden the understanding of the menstrual cycle, there appears to be no study that has focused upon the professional's attitudes and knowledge regarding menstruation. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to study the attitudes toward and the knowledge of menstruation held by those of the psychological and medical professions. Sex differences in these areas were also explored.The subjects were practicing psychologists and counselors (50), graduate-level counseling psychology practicum students (33), medical interns and residents (25), and undergraduate students (85). A 4 x 2 multivariate design was utilized with groupings by population and sex. Dependent variables were scores on The Menstrual Attitude Questionnaire and The Menstrual Knowledge Test. The main effects were tested in a multivariate sense. Univariate statistics were used to interpret significant simple effects. All findings were interpreted at alpha level p<.05.Three of the four null hypotheses were rejected. Analysis of the data revealed significant differences among all groups in menstrual attitudes (p<.000). The male and female attitudinal responses were significantly different in all but the practicing psychologists and counselors group (p<.000). The undergraduate student group displayed significantly less knowledge regarding menstruation than the other groups (p<.000). There were no significant differences in the knowledge levels between sexes (p<.386).For the most part, the undergraduate group held more extreme attitudes toward and less knowledge regarding menstruation than the other groups. This suggested that a combination of life experience and additional education promotes an adjustment toward more positive attitudes and an increase in knowledge regarding menstruation. Of particular importance was the indication that the medical profession may be more negatively biased toward women who experience difficulty during menstruation than the psychological profession. However, the belief that women should deny the negative aspects of menstruation and act as if the difficulties experienced are not bothersome, existed to sane degree in all groups.It was recommended that training programs in psychology and medicine include intensive education regarding the influence of menstruation upon women and that a more comprehensive assessment tool be developed to measure knowledge about menstruation and treatment for menstrual related problems.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/175690 |
| Date | 03 June 2011 |
| Creators | Crider, Iris M. |
| Contributors | Dimick, Kenneth M. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | 3, vii, 130 leaves : ill. ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
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