The Tendency for Adolescent Girls to Feel Comfortable in Communicating About Puberty and Reproductive Health with their Families: A Systematic Review

Abstract

ackground: There are knowledge problems related to puberty and health problems among adolescent girls so that they cannot be confident in effectively handling changes in their bodies during puberty as well as long-term reproductive health. Purpose: This study aims to systematically review the tendency for adolescent girls to feel comfortable in communicating about puberty and reproductive health with their families. Method: Systematic review is conducted in accordance with the guidelines of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). The search was conducted through PubMed, Google Scholar, and Science Direct databases on English studies from 2016-2021 published date. Results: Adolescent girls feel free to discuss issues related to puberty such as the development of secondary sex characters, menarche, and menstruation with the mother due to feelings and gender-specific compatibility This is due to stigma and perceived taboos in sociocultural factors. Fluency in communication is also caused by various factors such as knowledge between family and children, the number of families and attitudes and ways of communication of parents. Conclusion: Parental involvement is important in giving knowledge about reproductive health for adolescent girls but must ensure that the family have good knowledge and good ways of communication as well as approaches to overcome barriers in the gender perspective.