ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Sports Act. Living
Sec. Women in Sport
This article is part of the Research TopicBridging the Knowledge Gap: Enhancing Research on Women's Participation in SportsView all 10 articles
"I Just Wasn't Expecting It": Lived Experiences of Early Menstruators and the Impact of Parental Support in Competitive Dance
Provisionally accepted
- University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
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Menarche is a significant milestone in adolescence, yet the implications of early menarche (menarche before 12.72 years [Canadian mean]), remain insufficiently understood. Early menarche is generally linked to increased mental health risks, which may be intensified by the appearance-based pressures of competitive dance. Existing literature emphasizes menstrual disorders and delayed menarche, leaving early menarche in dance largely underexplored. This study investigated how young women in competitive dance perceive and experience early menarche, and how parental support influences dancers' ability to express needs and navigate this transition. Five dancers (Mage=14.62) who experienced their first menstruation at 11.58 to 12.54 years (M=12.24), participated in one-on-one semi-structured interviews, and five parents joined a focus group. Guided by interpretive description, data were analyzed using reflective thematic and functional analysis. Three themes were generated to reflect athletes' experiences: Alone in the Spotlight: What It Means to Menstruate Early, Behind the Curtain: Presence and Absence of Support, and Dancing Through Discomfort: Symptoms, Struggles, and Strength. Two shared dancer-parent themes were generated: Step by Step: Mastering the Art of Hiding Periods and Choreographing Comfort: Medication for Period Symptoms. Three additional themes were generated to reflect parent experiences: The Prep Step: Early Education and Preparation Before Onset, Backstage Support: Helping Young Dancers Manage Their Period, and Dad's Got the Moves: Stepping Up for Her Cycle. Findings from this research highlight the unique, multifaceted challenges of early menarche in competitive dance and underscore the need for tailored education, support, and resources for dancers and their families.
Keywords: Early menarche, competitive dance, Adolescent Development, menstrualexperiences, Parental support, period management, Youth athletes
Received: 19 Aug 2025; Accepted: 28 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Adam and Ambrosio. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Margo E K Adam, meadam@ualberta.ca
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