--- title: What attitudes do women have about menstruation and what affects these attitudes? description: Women view their periods as natural, bothersome, or shameful depending on their personal history and current experiences, including how they felt at menarche, url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/menstrual-attitudes-in-adult-women-a-cross-sectional-study-on-the-association-2024/ --- - [Niyora](https://niyora.com/) - [Research](https://niyora.com/research/) - [Library](https://niyora.com/research/library/) - What attitudes do women have about menstruation and what affects these attitudes? Survey study, 2024 # What attitudes do women have about menstruation and what affects these attitudes? Women view their periods as natural, bothersome, or shameful depending on their personal history and current experiences, including how they felt at menarche, menstrual pain, contraceptive use, body image, and comfort with sexuality. Moderate study design 1470 women aged 18-50 years recruited through social media ## What they did Online survey of 1470 women aged 18-50. Participants completed questionnaires measuring attitudes toward menstruation as natural, shameful, or bothersome. They also answered questions about menarche, current symptoms, contraceptive use, genital self-image, and sexual openness. Researchers used regression analysis to identify factors associated with each attitude. ## What they found Viewing menstruation as natural was associated with positive emotions at menarche, experiencing less menstrual pain, using no or non-hormonal contraception, and having a positive genital self-image. Perceiving menstruation as bothersome was associated with lower educational level, stronger menstrual pain, more perimenstrual psychological symptoms, and using hormonal contraceptives. Viewing menstruation as shameful was primarily associated with lower sexual openness and negative genital self-image. ## What it means for you How women feel about their periods is shaped by their personal history, current experiences, contraceptive choice, body image, and attitudes toward sexuality. The study only recruited women through social media, so the results may not represent all women, particularly those without social media access. 1470 women surveyed 18-50 age range in years 3 attitudes measured ## About the study Original title Menstrual attitudes in adult women: A cross-sectional study on the association with menstruation factors, contraceptive use, genital self-image, and sexual openness Authors Kvalem IL, Dahr Nygaard IM, Træen B et al. Journal Women's health (London, England) Year 2024 Study design Survey study Participants 1,470 What was tested None Open access Yes Read the paper [doi.org/10.1177/17455057241249553](https://doi.org/10.1177/17455057241249553) Original abstract Background: Menstruation is a central part of the everyday life of most women, and menstrual attitudes may impact health and well-being. Objectives: This article aimed to map menstrual attitudes among adult women and examine factors associated with these attitudes, such as aspects of menarche and current menstruation, and rarely studied factors, such as genital self-image and sexual openness. Study design: A cross-sectional online survey. Method: A sample of 1470 women, aged 18-50 years, were recruited through social media sites. The Menstrual Self-Evaluation Scale was used to measure three different attitudes: menstruation as natural, shameful, and bothersome. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to investigate the relationship between each attitude and factors related to menarche and current menstruation, contraceptive use, genital self-image (assessed by Female Genital Self-Image Scale ), and sexual openness ( Personal Comfort with Sexuality Scale ). Sociodemographic variables were included into the models as covariates. Results: Agreeing with the attitude of menstruation as something natural was predicted primarily by positive emotions at menarche, experiencing less menstrual pain, using no or nonhormonal contraception, and having a positive genital self-image. Perceiving menstruation as bothersome was predicted by a lower educational level, experiencing stronger menstrual pain, having more perimenstrual psychological symptoms, and using hormonal contraceptives. Menstruation as something shameful was chiefly predicted by lower sexual openness and a negative genital self-image. Conclusion: Many women held attitudes about menstruation as both something natural and bothersome. Menarche and current menstruation experiences, and contraceptive method, played central roles in shaping attitudes toward menstruation as natural and bothersome. Viewing menstruation as shameful stood out from other attitudes by indicating a triad of self-objectified shame that includes menstruation, sexuality, and genital self-image. Further research into the relationships between menstruation, contraceptive use, sexuality, and body image is needed to enhance our understanding of women's menstrual health. Reproduced under CC-BY. ## Topics [Menstrual cycle and mood](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-cycle-mood/)[Dysmenorrhea and period pain](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-dysmenorrhea/)[Pain and headache](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-pain/)[Oral contraceptives and drospirenone](https://niyora.com/research/topics/treatment-hormonal-contraceptives/)[Relationships and partners](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-relationships/)[Adolescents and young people](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-adolescents/)[Stigma, attitudes and culture](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-stigma-culture/) Research tells you what helps on average. Niyora helps on the day it hits. Calm down, see it another way, and decide what to say, with a PMS and PMDD app built by a doctor. ## Related studies Survey study, 2025 Does menstruation affect how well women perform at work? Survey study, 2024 Does poor sleep and period problems affect teen mental health? Case-control study, 1991 How common are premenstrual symptoms in teenage girls, and what factors affect them? Survey study, 2025 What are menstrual cycle patterns in elite female basketball players? Survey study, 2024 What factors are linked to PMDD in female university students? Survey study, 2024 Does knowing about Ayurvedic yoga make teenage girls more interested in practicing it for PMS? Ask AI about this page Copy prompt ChatGPT ↗ Claude ↗ Perplexity ↗ Google AI Mode ↗ Grok ↗