LIVING THROUGH PRIVATE TIME: AFRICAN AMERICAN FEMALES AT MENARCHE By DOROTHY JEAN HAWTHORNE A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 1999 Copyright 1999 by Dorothy Jean Hawthorne Dedicated to The Loving Memories of my Father NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE, SR. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to acknowledge the young girls and their mothers for sharing their life-lived experiences about a private and sensitive topic, menarche. I am especially grateful to my early maturing daughter, Nathan'ette Burdine, for inspiring my interest in menarche as a research focus. I thank my family and friends for their continued support throughout this lengthy doctoral process. My deepest sincere thank you is extended to Dr. Richard Lutz and the members of my supervisory committee including Dr. Hossein Yarandi, Dr. Faye Gary, Dr. Sharleen Simpson, Dr. Felix Berardo, and Dr. Joe Feagin. Often I encountered one obstacle after another as I struggled to maintain my focus on the goal of completing this task. Abandoning this project, however, was impossible with the strong support offered by the University of Florida's Graduate School through Dr. Richard Lutz and the members of my supervisory committee. I thank you. Dr. Hossein Yarandi served as my mentor long before officially assuming the advisor and supervisory chair roles. I wish to acknowledge his years of kind guidance, patience, and friendship. Dr. Faye Gary has been my shining light at the end of a lonely and dark tunnel for the final twelve iv weeks of this project. It has been an honor to work closely with a graceful and focused professor as Dr. Gary. She is a joy, and I am deeply indebted to her. I wish to acknowledge Dr. Felix Berardo as my counselor-of-reality. He is a person of wisdom, and he served as my voice of reason throughout my doctoral experience at the University of Florida. I appreciated his direct and taciturn ways of sharpening my insight into issues that truly mattered. There is no question that most African Americans know what it means to be black while living in the United States. Of course I knew this, at least I thought I did, until I met Dr. Joe R. Feagin. I wish to acknowledge Joe's professional and candid analysis of racial-ethnic situations that have either directly and/or indirectly influenced my personal and professional lives. Joe helped to hone my critical thinking about how the literature and media portray African American females. With Joe's help, I was able to critically evaluate and present literature that addressed the life of African American females at menarche. Lastly, I dedicate this work to my father, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Sr., and all that he stood for. Only through memories of his image as a strong, loving, and devoted father was I able to persevere to the completion of this task. I wish to acknowledge my love for him, and my commitment to making him proud of having me as a daughter. TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iv LIST OF TABLES ix ABSTRACT x CHAPTERS 1 INTRODUCTION 1 Background of the Problem 2 White Females 3 African American Females 6 Parents 8 Statement of the Problem 11 Purpose of the Study 13 Research Questions 14 Theoretical Perspectives 15 Symbolic Interactionism 16 Phenomenologic Humanism 19 Significance of the Study 22 Definition of Terms 24 Origin of the Study 25 Assumptions 29 Scope of the Study 3 Delimitations 30 Limitations 31 Overview of the Remaining Four Chapters 32 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 33 Age of Menarche Onset 33 Chronological Age at Menarche 34 Biophysiological Thesis 37 Sociobiological Thesis 39 Cognition in the Child 42 Information Processing 43 Storage and Use of Information 44 Educational Preparation 45 Limited Educational Preparation 46 Mothers as Teachers About the Menarche 47 VI Responses to Menstruation 49 Psychological Responses 50 Self-Concept 57 Personality Characteristics of Maturing Females 59 Familial Status 61 Menarche to Sex and Pregnancy 62 Peer Relationships 65 Summary 67 METHODS AND PROCEDURES 68 Research Design 68 Sample 71 Feasibility Study 71 Family Types 72 Socioeconomic Status (SES) 73 Sampling Procedures 75 Demographic Information 79 Scientific Integrity and Rigor 82 Protection of Human Subjects 91 Data Collection 92 Data Analysis and Verification 95 Summary 97 LIVING THROUGH PRIVATE TIME 98 Organization of the Chapter 98 Symbolic Bleeding 99 Philosophical Beliefs 99 Emotional Responses 108 At Another Time 119 Sexual Sensuality 126 Private Business 132 Regulating Sexual Behavior 137 Gender Sexuality Scripting 138 Cross-Sex Segregation 142 Parental Supervision 147 Good Company 153 Managing Menstrual Flow 156 Mother's Significance 156 Comfort Measures 162 Hygienic Measures 165 Preparation for Subsequent Flows 171 Summary 173 SUMMARY, DISCUSSION, RECOMMENDATIONS 176 Organization of the Remainder of the Chapter 178 Living Through Private Time 178 Symbolic Bleeding 180 Regulating Sexual Behavior 183 Managing Menstrual Flow 184 VII Self-Concept 186 Self-image 187 Self-Esteem 190 Recommendations 194 Implications for the African American Family Literature 194 Implications for Nursing 196 Implications for Further Research 197 APPENDICES A INFORMED CONSENT 200 B DEMOGRAPHICAL DATA 209 C INTERVIEW GUIDES: CHILD AND MOTHER 210 D STATISTICAL ANALYSIS SERIES (SAS) 213 REFERENCES 214 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 232 Vlll LIST OF TABLES Table page 3-1 Profile of Feasibility Sample's Types of Families and Socioeconomic Classes 74 3-2 Demographic Profile of the Young Girls Indicating ID Number, Age, Tanner's Stage, Time in Study, and Height and Weight 83 3-3 Demographic Profile of the Parents Including ID Number, Mother's Age, Father's Age, Mother's Education, Father's Education, and Household Income 84 3-4 Profile of the Young Girls' Families Including Family Type, Socioeconomic Status and Number in Household 85 3-5 Profile of Family Types and Socioeconomic Classes According to Hollingshead1s Index (Gilbert & Kahl, 1993) 86 3-6 Profile of Biological Father's Presence and Absence in the Home and Socioeconomic Class Stratification 86 3-7 Frequency and Percent of Variables Tanner's Stage, Family Type, and Socioeconomic Status (SES) 87 3-8 Summary Measures of the Demographic Variables 88 IX Abstract of Dissertation Presented to the Graduate School of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctorate of Philosophy LIVING THROUGH PRIVATE TIME: AFRICAN AMERICAN FEMALES AT MENARCHE By Dorothy Jean Hawthorne August 1999 Chairperson: Hossein Yarandi, PhD Major Department: College of Nursing A female's first menstrual flow (menarche) is not only a physical experience, but an influential social, psychological and familial event. The social psychological responses of individuals from various ethnocultural and socioeconomic backgrounds to influential events are significant to the professional practice of mental health nursing. The positive, negative, and mixed effects of menarche in middle-class European (White) American females have been well researched as compared to other ethnocultural and socioeconomic groups. Theoretical formulations for the social psychological responses of African (Black) American females at menarche were prepared. The qualitative case study approach was used to: (1) discern the thoughts, feelings, beliefs, practices, and social interactive