Putting pubertal timing in developmental context: implications for prevention.

The emerging sex difference in adolescent depression: interacting contributions of puberty and peer stress.

This research investigated the developmental stages (pubertal status) and contexts (early or late timing relative to peers, and a context of stressful versus supportive peer relationships) in which the sex difference in depression unfolds. A sample of 158 youth (ages 9.6-14.8) and their caregivers provided information at two waves, 1 year apart, on puberty, peer stress, and depression. Pubertal...

Quality of early family relationships and the timing and tempo of puberty: effects depend on biological sensitivity to context.

Guided by evolutionary-developmental theories of biological sensitivity to context and reproductive development, the current research examined the interactive effects of early family environments and psychobiologic reactivity to stress on the subsequent timing and tempo of puberty. As predicted by the theory, among children displaying heightened biological sensitivity to context (i.e., higher s...

Pubertal timing and psychopathology 1 Pubertal Timing and Psychopathology Xiaojia Ge and Misaki N. Natsuaki In Search of Explanations for Early Pubertal Timing Effects on Developmental Psychopathology

A longitudinal study of pubertal timing, parent-child conflict, and cohesion in families of young adolescents with spina bifida.

OBJECTIVE To study longitudinal associations between perceived pubertal timing and family conflict and cohesion during the transition to adolescence in 68 families of children with spina bifida and 68 matched families with able-bodied children. Children were 8 or 9 years old at Time 1 and 10 or 11 years old at Time 2. METHODS Family conflict and cohesion were assessed with observational data ...

Pubertal timing and adolescent sexual behavior in girls.

Girls who experience earlier pubertal timing relative to peers also exhibit earlier timing of sexual intercourse and more unstable sexual relationships. Although pubertal development initiates feelings of physical desire, the transition into romantic and sexual relationships involves complex biological and social processes contributing both to physical maturation and to individual interpretatio...