Associating puberty, metabolism and cognition

Cognition is influenced by pubertal and metabolic changes independently. However, these changes co-occur in adolescence and their combined role on cognition is unclear. We used Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to investigated the association of pubertal and metabolic status latent factors, each composed of a pool of indicators, on intelligence markers in 278 early adolescents, cross-sectionally. The SEM model, controlled for socioeconomic status, included paths between latent factors and from them to the outcomes: two subtests of Wechsler Abbreviated Intelligence Scale (Block Design; Vocabulary). Metabolic status related to pubertal status only in girls, but did not affect performance. Differently, more advanced pubertal status (controled for age) was positively associated with better verbal (Vocabulary) and non-verbal (Block Design) intelligence in both sexes.