The psychological impact of menarche: Integrative versus disruptive changes

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Abstract
Ninety-four seventh- and eighth-grade girls, 49 premenarcheal and 45 postmenarcheal, produced male and female human figure drawings. These drawings were scored for sexual differentiation, sexual identification, and anxiety related to aggression-hostility and insecurity-lability. Postmenarcheal girls were found to evidence greater sexual differentiation and clearer sexual identification than premenarcheal girls of the same age. Postmenarcheal girls did not differ from premenarcheal girls in level or class of anxiety, however. Together, these results provide evidence for viewing the impact of menarche as primarily integrative, rather than primarily disruptive. Implications of these findings for understanding menarche as a normal developmental crisis are explored.