Black adolescents' emotional response to menarche

There has been substantial agreement in the literature that cultural attitudes influence females' reaction to menarche. Recently, growing interest has been shown in the ways cultural traditions affect the response to this event. To date, studies of the emotional impact of menarche have involved primarily white middle class populations. To determine whether the black American experience is similar to or different from that of a white American sample, the questions and measure used previously on a white sample were replicated in a group of middle class black adolescents. Although the black and white mean scores on positive feelings were similar (slightly positive), the blacks indicated somewhat greater negative feelings than did the whites. The black perception of menarche as more negative than positive is in accord with findings from other studies concerning the reaction to this event in this culture. Several explanations are suggested as possible bases for the negative feelings surrounding first menstruation in the United States.