Adolescent Girls in Transitional Iranian Society from the Perspective of Counselors and Socio-Cultural Activists: A Thematic Analysis

Abstract

Adolescence is known as a sensitive and vulnerable period of human development. Given the sensitivity of this period for girls as future mothers and the importance of mental health in fulfilling the femininity and motherhood roles, it is required to attend to the psychological status of adolescent girls. Therefore, a thematic analysis-based study was conducted to explore the harms incurred to Iranian adolescent girls. The aim of this study was to discover the factors and themes that create and reveal social harm in adolescent girls. In so doing, in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 counselors and socio-cultural activists. Findings revealed that seven themes play a key role in the vulnerability of adolescent girls to social harm. Because of the interaction of six causal-contextual-intervening themes with the damaged self-esteem theme, adolescent girls are more exposed to social harms. These six themes include unresolved identity challenges, emotional challenges, lack of healthy satisfaction of natural needs, adolescent age incidences, family hits, and social misalignments. Therefore, we hope that specialists closely attend to enhancing the self-esteem of Iranian adolescent girls, besides improving their social, cultural, and family environment. © 2024 The Child Care in Practice Group.