Adolescence is a crucial time for girls to prepare for and adjust to adulthood. The purpose of this study was to better understand the challenges girls face due to menstruation in the form of socio-cultural norms and its impact on self-esteem. The study was conducted on 240 adolescent girls in the age group of 10-14years and 15-19 years belonging to rural and urban areas of Hisar district. Self- developed schedules were used to delineate personal, socio-personal variables, MHM status in terms of knowledge, attitude and practices, socio-cultural norms concerning menstruation and facilities at school and home in terms of MHM. Self-esteem of adolescent girls was assessed by using State Self-Esteem Scale (SSES) developed by Heatherton and Polivy (1991). Results, illustrate that knowledge, attitude and practice level of respondents was significantly associated with personal and socio-economic variables i.e. age, class, area of residence, mother education and father occupation. Majority of respondents of rural background were unsatisfied with the family communication and guidance on MHM they received at homes. Regarding facilities at school in terms of MHM more than 1/4th rural adolescents agreed that there was lack of separate and clean latrines with doors, lack of soap and wash material, lack of changing room to manage periods at school, lack of sanitary material and lack of guidance on MHM. Approximately one- third of girls irrespective of area of residence reported dissatisfaction with home facilities with regard to MHM.

Keyword: Menstrual hygiene management; Adolescents; Menstrual; Attitude.