[Adolescent boys' lived experience of puberty: a qualitative study]

ABSTRACT

Paying attention to adolescents' health is very important, because of their increasing number and also, because adolescence is one of the most critical periods of the life. Based on the census done in year 1996 in Iran, 25% of the population was between 10 to 19 years old; almost 16 million people. A lot of physical, psychological, social and behavioral problems are rooted in adolescence. The purpose of this study was to investigate the experiences of puberty in adolescent boys. This was a qualitative study based on phenomenological method. Samples were 22 adolescents, between 15 to 19 years old, living in Arak, which were selected by purposive sampling method. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using Colaizzi method. Six themes were identified Conflict with parents, biological changes, economical needs, educational condition, sexual concerns and spiritual matters. Results show that most of participants had extremely stressful experiences which sometimes lead to crisis. It seems that to relieve or reduce these problems, three important agents in child development; including family, school and society must play an active role