Introduction

Puberty experiences of male adolescents can have significant impacts on physical and psychological health outcomes. This qualitative study explored the puberty experiences of young males in Pakistan, as there are limited accounts of what shapes these puberty experiences, especially for adolescent males living in a restrictive culture.

Methods

Twenty-two young Pakistani men (aged 18–21 years) from two urban sites in Karachi participated in individual face-to-face (n=19) and Skype (n=3) interviews. Qualitative thematic analysis was conducted using an inductive approach to identity and examine the patterns emerging from the data.

Results

Participants described puberty as a challenging phase for which they were unprepared with a combination of various socio-cultural factors exposing them to negative impacts. As a result, young men expressed feelings of anxiety, embarrassment and isolation. Societal and gender norms around masculinity, sexuality and the roles and responsibilities of young men had a significant impact on how participants experienced puberty. While negative reactions towards puberty were dominant, participants described adopting coping strategies (e.g. social support) to help them deal with negative experiences.

Conclusions

Findings highlight the significance of culturally appropriate puberty education and various facilitating factors that may improve the puberty experiences for future young men. While extending current literature, this study also identifies key factors that could inform the development of health promotion programmes, which may aid adolescent males’ puberty transition and positively influence their long-term health, well-being and identity.

中文翻译：

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聆听巴基斯坦年轻男性闻所未闻的青春期经历：一项定性研究

介绍

男性青少年的青春期经历会对身心健康产生重大影响。这项定性研究探讨了巴基斯坦年轻男性的青春期经历，因为关于这些青春期经历的形成因素的描述有限，特别是对于生活在限制性文化中的青春期男性。

方法

来自卡拉奇两个城市的 22 名巴基斯坦年轻人（18-21 岁）参加了个人面对面（n=19）和 Skype（n=3）访谈。使用归纳方法进行定性主题分析，以识别和检查从数据中出现的模式。

结果

参与者将青春期描述为一个充满挑战的阶段，他们没有准备好应对各种社会文化因素的组合，使他们面临负面影响。结果，年轻人表达了焦虑、尴尬和孤立的感觉。围绕男性气质、性取向以及年轻男性的角色和责任的社会和性别规范对参与者如何经历青春期产生了重大影响。虽然对青春期的负面反应占主导地位，但参与者描述了采取应对策略（例如社会支持）来帮助他们处理负面经历。

结论

调查结果强调了文化上适当的青春期教育的重要性，以及可能改善未来年轻男性青春期体验的各种促进因素。在扩展现有文献的同时，本研究还确定了可以为健康促进计划发展提供信息的关键因素，这可能有助于青春期男性的青春期过渡并对其长期健康、福祉和身份产生积极影响。