Interactive Effects of Psychosocial Stress and Early Pubertal Timing on Youth Depression and Anxiety: Contextual Amplification in Family and Peer Environments

AbstractThis research examined personal-accentuation and contextual-amplification models of pubertal timing, wherein personal and contextual risks magnify the effects of earlier pubertal maturation on youth depression. A sample of 167 youths (M age = 12.41 years, SD = 1.19) and their maternal caregivers completed semistructured interviews and questionnaires at two waves. Consistent with a personal-accentuation model, earlier pubertal maturation more strongly predicted subsequent depression in youths with prior depression, certain personality traits, and maladaptive stress responses than in youths without these personal risks. Several of these effects were specific to earlier-maturing girls. Consistent with a contextual-amplification model, earlier pubertal maturation more strongly predicted subsequent depression in youths exposed to recent maternal depression and family stress than in youths without these contextual risks. These findings identify key characteristics of youths and their family context that help to explain individual variation in depressive reactions to earlier pubertal maturation. More broadly, this research contributes to integrative models of depression that consider the interplay among personal vulnerability, contextual risk, and developmental transitions.

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Adverse Childhood Experiences and Early Pubertal Timing Among Girls: A Meta-Analysis

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph16162887 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 16 (16) ◽

pp. 2887 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Lei Zhang ◽

Dandan Zhang ◽

Ying Sun

Keyword(s):

Sexual Abuse ◽

Adverse Childhood Experiences ◽

Pubertal Timing ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Father Absence ◽

Family Dysfunction ◽

Future Research ◽

Childhood Experiences ◽

Adverse Childhood ◽

Early Pubertal Timing

The association between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and pubertal timing has been a topic of enduring controversy. A systematic search of PubMed and Web of Science databases was undertaken to quantify the magnitude of total and specific forms of ACEs effects on early pubertal timing among girls. Our search identified 3280 records, of which 43 studies with 46 independent data sets met inclusion criteria. We estimated pooled effect sizes (Cohen’s ds) for the association between ACEs with early pubertal timing. Total ACEs was not associated with early pubertal timing. When we examined the specific types of ACEs, associations were small to medium for father absence (d = −0.40, 95% confidence interval [CI]: −0.63, −0.16) and small for sexual abuse (d = −0.13, CI: −0.17, −0.10) and family dysfunction (d = −0.08, CI: −0.11, −0.02). We identified considerable heterogeneity between estimates for almost all of the outcomes. ACEs exposure may affect female reproductive reproduction, particularly father absence, sexual abuse, and family dysfunction. We propose that future research in this area test a theoretical model linking adversity with earlier reproductive strategy, which includes early pubertal timing as a core component linking early adversity and stress physiology with poor health outcomes later in life in females.

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Pubertal Timing as a Transdiagnostic Risk for Psychopathology in Youth

Clinical Psychological Science ◽

10.1177/2167702618810518 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 7 (3) ◽

pp. 411-429 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Elissa J. Hamlat ◽

Hannah R. Snyder ◽

Jami F. Young ◽

Benjamin L. Hankin

Keyword(s):

Risk Factor ◽

Factor Model ◽

Pubertal Timing ◽

Organizational Models ◽

General Psychopathology ◽

Early Pubertal Timing ◽

Specific Factors ◽

P Factor ◽

Internalizing And Externalizing ◽

Different Levels

Evidence suggests that early pubertal timing may operate as a transdiagnostic risk factor (i.e., shared across syndromes of psychopathology) for both genders. The current study examined associations between pubertal timing and dimensional psychopathology, structured across different levels of three organizational models: (a) DSM-based syndrome model, (b) traditional model of internalizing and externalizing factors, and (c) bifactor (p factor) model, which includes a general psychopathology factor as well as internalizing- and externalizing-specific factors. For study analyses, 567 youth-parent pairs completed psychopathology measures when youths (55.5% female) were 13.58 years old ( SD = 2.37, range = 9–17 years). Findings across all models revealed that early pubertal timing served as a transdiagnostic risk factor and also displayed some syndrome-specific associations. Gender did not moderate any relationships between pubertal timing and psychopathology. Study findings reinforce the importance of examining risk across different levels of psychopathology conceptualization and analysis.

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Early Pubertal Timing and Testosterone Associated With Higher Levels of Adolescent Depression in Girls

Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry ◽

10.1016/j.jaac.2019.02.007 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 58 (12) ◽

pp. 1197-1206 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

William E. Copeland ◽

Carol Worthman ◽

Lilly Shanahan ◽

E. Jane Costello ◽

Adrian Angold

Keyword(s):

Adolescent Depression ◽

Pubertal Timing ◽

Early Pubertal Timing

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

Development and Psychopathology ◽

10.1017/s0954579410000660 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 23 (1) ◽

pp. 85-99 ◽

Cited By ~ 112

Author(s):

Bruce J. Ellis ◽

Elizabeth A. Shirtcliff ◽

W. Thomas Boyce ◽

Julianna Deardorff ◽

Marilyn J. Essex

Keyword(s):

Family Relationships ◽

Pubertal Timing ◽

Pubic Hair ◽

Interactive Effects ◽

Hair Development ◽

Pubertal Tempo ◽

Biological Sensitivity To Context ◽

Parent Child Relationships ◽

Early Family ◽

Parent Child

AbstractGuided 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 stress reactivity), higher quality parent–child relationships forecast slower initial pubertal tempo and later pubertal timing, whereas lower quality parent–child relationships forecast the opposite pattern. No such effects emerged among less context-sensitive children. Whereas sympathetic nervous system reactivity moderated the effects of parent–child relationships on both breast/genital and pubic hair development, adrenocortical activation only moderated the effect on pubic hair development. The current results build on previous research documenting what family contexts predict variation in pubertal timing by demonstrating for whom those contexts matter. In addition, the authors advance a new methodological approach for assessing pubertal tempo using piecewise growth curve analysis.

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