Pubertal Timing Fluctuations across Middle School: Implications for Girls' Psychological Health (original) (raw)
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Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 2014
Robust evidence supports that girls and boys who experience early pubertal timing, maturing earlier than one's peers, are vulnerable to developing symptoms of depression. However, it has yet to be clarified whether early pubertal timing confers vulnerability to African American as well as to Caucasian adolescents and whether this vulnerability is specific to depressive symptoms or can be generalized to symptoms of social anxiety. In previous studies, one race or one sex was examined in isolation or sample sizes were too small to examine racial differences. Our longitudinal study consisted of a sample of 223 adolescents (M age =12.42, 54.3 % female, 50.2 % African American, and 49.8 % Caucasian). At baseline, depressive symptoms, social anxiety symptoms, and pubertal timing were assessed by self-report. Nine months later, we assessed depressive symptoms, social anxiety symptoms, body esteem, and stressful life events that occurred between baseline and follow-up. Analyses indicated that early pubertal timing interacted with stressful life events to predict increased symptoms of depression, but only for Caucasian girls and African American boys. Results were found to be specific to depressive symptoms and did not generalize to symptoms of social anxiety. Additionally, there was a significant positive indirect effect of pubertal timing on symptoms of depression through body esteem for Caucasian females.
Developmental Psychology, 2010
Although the sequence of pubertal maturation remains consistent across most individuals, the timing and tempo of development fluctuate widely. While past research has largely focused on the sequelae of pubertal timing, a faster tempo of maturation might also present special challenges to children for acclimating to new biological and social milestones. Using latent growth curve modeling, the present study investigated how pubertal tempo and pubertal timing predicted depressive symptoms over a 4-year period in a sample of children recruited from New York City area public schools. Rate of intraindividual change in parent-reported Tanner stages was used as an index of pubertal tempo, and more advanced Tanner development at an earlier chronological age was used as an index of pubertal timing. For girls (N = 138, M = 8.86 years old at Time 1), pubertal timing emerged as the most salient factor, and the tempo at which girls progressed through puberty was not significant. In boys (N = 128, M = 9.61 years old at Time 1), both timing and tempo of development were significant; notably, however, the effects of pubertal tempo were stronger than those of timing. These findings highlight the need to consider multiple sources of individual variability in pubertal development and suggest different pubertal challenges for boys and girls.
Journal of Adolescence, 2009
Using an 'at-risk' sample of African American girls, the present study examined the link between girls' retrospective reports of pubertal timing, girls' perceived relative pubertal timing, and their behavioral and emotional problems as rated by the girls themselves (N ¼ 102; 11e17 years), as well as teachers and parents. Structural equation modeling results indicated that the girls' retrospective reports of menarche were significantly related to their perceived relative menarche, whereas the girls' retrospective reports of development of their breasts were not related to their perceived relative development of breasts. Girls who perceived their breasts developing early relative to their peers were more likely to engage in delinquent behaviors according to teacher report. Significant effects of teacher reported adolescent internalizing problems also were found for girls who retrospectively reported either early or late development of breasts. The study's findings underscore the importance of teasing apart the effects of different indicators of girls' pubertal development on psychosocial adjustment and including teachers' reports of girls' emotional and behavioral problems, particularly among girls with the additional risks associated with residing in an economically disadvantaged urban setting.
Journal of youth and adolescence, 2015
Puberty is accompanied by numerous psychological and interpersonal challenges, including a dramatic rise in the prevalence of depression among girls. Pubertal timing has been identified as a potent predictor of depressive symptoms among females, but less is known about other features of puberty. The present study sought to address this gap in the literature by examining the effect of pubertal synchrony, the degree to which morphological indicators of puberty develop concurrently, on depressive symptoms in adolescence and emerging adulthood in a longitudinal sample. Among 355 female participants, asynchronous development at age 13 was associated with increased depressive symptoms at age 20, but not age 15. Additional analyses indicated that pubertal timing moderated the association between synchrony and depressive symptoms at age 20, such that girls who exhibited asynchronous development had the highest levels of depressive symptoms when they matured later than peers. Results provide...
2014
Although research implicates pubertal processes in the emergence of the sex difference in depression during adolescence, few studies have examined how cognitive and affective vulnerabilities influence the effect of pubertal timing on depressive symptoms. The current study prospectively examined whether early pubertal timing predicted increases in depressive symptoms among adolescents with more negative cognitive styles and lower emotional clarity, and whether this risk was specific to adolescent girls. In a diverse sample of 318 adolescents, early pubertal timing predicted increases in depressive symptoms among adolescent boys and girls with more negative cognitive styles and adolescent girls with poor emotional clarity. These findings suggest that earlier pubertal maturation may heighten the risk of depression for adolescents with pre-existing vulnerabilities to depression, and that early maturing adolescent girls with lower levels of emotional clarity may be particularly vulnerable to depressive symptoms, representing one pathway through which the sex difference in depression may emerge. Ó
Development and Psychopathology, 2013
This longitudinal study examined personal-accentuation and contextual-amplification models of pubertal timing. In these models, individual and contextual risk factors during childhood and adolescence can magnify the effects of early or late puberty on depression symptoms that occur years later. The moderating role of prepubertal individual factors (emotional problems in late childhood) and interpersonal factors (deviant peer affiliation, early dating, perceived peer popularity, and perceived parental rejection during adolescence) were tested. A representative sample of 1,431 Canadian adolescents between 10-11 and 16-17 years of age was followed biannually. In line with the personal-accentuation model, early puberty has been shown to be a predictor for depression in both girls and boys who presented emotional problems in childhood. This effect was also noted for late maturing boys. Consistent with the contextual-amplification model, early puberty predicted later depression in youth who perceived greater parental rejection. Interpersonal experiences such as early dating in girls and deviant peer affiliation in boys predicted depression in early maturers as well. For girls, early dating was also found to be amplified by childhood emotional problems. In line with biopsychosocial models, results indicate that the effect of pubertal timing on depressive symptoms must be conceptualized through complex interactions between characteristics of adolescents' interpersonal relationships and prepubertal vulnerabilities
Pubertal timing and grade effects on adjustment
Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 1985
Effects on adjustment of biological maturation and social timing were com pared using data from a longitudinal sample of 335 young adolescents, who were followed from the sixth through eighth grades. Biological maturation was estimated from the relative timing of the adolescent growth spurt. Social timing was assessed by grade in school. Five adjustment constructs were ex amined: school achievement (course grades in fi ve subjects), family rela tions (a 17-item scale), peer relations (a 10item scale), body image (an 11-item scale), impulse control (an 8-item scale), and psychopathology (an 11-item emotional tone scale and an 11-item general psychopathology scale). All but one adjustment construct showed grade effects, but only three of the six constructs showed pubertal timing effects. There were no grade by pubertal timing effects. Although there were gender differences for some of the adjustment constructs, there were no gender by pubertal timing effects. The results are discussed in terms of the life-span developmental perspective.
Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 2011
An accumulation of research evidence suggests that early pubertal timing plays a significant role in girls' behavioral and emotional problems. If early pubertal timing is a problematic event, then early developing Black girls should manifest evidence of this crisis because they tend to be the earliest to develop compared to other girls from different racial and ethnic groups. Given the inconsistent findings among studies using samples of Black girls, the present study examined the independent influence of perceived pubertal timing and age of menarche on externalizing behaviors and depressive symptoms in a nationally representative sample of Black girls (412 African American and 195 Caribbean Black; M = 15 years). Path analysis results indicated that perceived pubertal timing effects on externalizing behaviors were moderated by ethnic subgroup. Caribbean Black girls' who perceived their development to be early engaged in more externalizing behaviors than Caribbean Black girls' who perceived their development to be either on-time or late. Age of menarche did not significantly predict Black girls' externalizing behaviors and depressive symptoms. The onset of menarche does not appear to be an important predictor of Black girls' symptoms of externalizing behavior and depression. These findings suggest ethnic subgroup and perceived pubertal timing are promising factors for better understanding the adverse effects of early perceived pubertal timing among Black girls.