Disentangling the Effects of Boys' Pubertal Timing: The Importance of Social Context

The Social Determinants of Emotional and Behavioral Problems in Adolescents Experiencing Early Puberty

PURPOSE

Earlier pubertal timing is an important predictor of emotional and behavioral problems during adolescence. The current study undertook a comprehensive investigation of whether the social environment can buffer or amplify the associations between pubertal timing and emotional and behavioral problems.

METHODS

Research questions were examined in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, a large population representative sample in the United States. We examined interactions between pubertal timing and the shared effects of a range of proximal and distal social environmental influences (i.e., parents, peers, schools, neighborhoods, socioeconomic status) in 10- to 13-year-olds.

RESULTS

Results revealed significant interaction between timing and proximal social influences (i.e., the "microsystem") in predicting emotional and behavioral problems. In general, adolescents with earlier pubertal timing and unfavorable (high levels of negative and low levels of positive) influences in the microsystem exhibited greater problems. Both males and females exhibited such associations for rule-breaking problems, while females alone exhibited associations for depressive problems. Results also illustrate the relative strength of each social context at moderating risk for emotional and behavioral problems in earlier versus later pubertal maturers.

DISCUSSION

These findings highlight the importance of proximal social influences in buffering vulnerability for emotional and behavioral problems related to earlier puberty. Findings also illustrate the broad implications of latent environmental factors, reflecting common variance of multiple social influences that typically covary with one another.

The Influence of Pubertal Development on Early Adolescent Sleep and Changes in Family Functioning

Pubertal development has been separately linked to adolescents' sleep problems and larger family functioning, but research connecting these inter-related processes remains sparse. This study aimed to examine how pubertal status and tempo were related to early adolescents' sleep and their family functioning. Using longitudinal data from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development study, the study's sample (N = 4682) was 49.2% female, was an average of 9.94 years old at baseline, and was 60.1% white. Analyses in the current study modeled the indirect associations between pubertal change and changes in family conflict via adolescent sleep duration and variability of duration. The results suggested that pubertal status and tempo predicted shorter adolescent sleep durations and greater variability in those durations, which predicted residual increases in family conflict. The findings highlight the role of adolescents' pubertal changes in their sleep and how such changes can negatively affect family functioning.

Pubertal timing, neighborhood income, and mental health in boys and girls: Findings from the adolescent brain cognitive development study

Early pubertal timing is associated with youth mental health problems, with association amplified or mitigated by characteristics of the residential neighborhood. Yet, limited research simultaneously examines the roles of neighborhood context and biological sex in this association. This study fills this research gap by examining sex-specific associations between pubertal timing and neighborhood income with youth mental health problems (internalizing and externalizing symptoms) in a longitudinal cohort of early adolescents in the United States (US). Participants were 9201 youth aged 9 or 10 years from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study. Pubertal timing was the average of parent- and youth-reported pubertal status standardized within sex and age. Outcome variables were youths' internalizing and externalizing symptoms assessed at 1-year follow-up via parent survey. We evaluated interaction effects between pubertal timing and neighborhood income in a series of sex-stratified linear mixed effect models, adjusted for family and personal sociodemographic characteristics. In girls, earlier pubertal timing was associated with more internalizing (β = 0.06, p < 0.001) and externalizing problems (β = 0.07, p < 0.001) at 1-year follow-up, not moderated by neighborhood income. In boys, earlier pubertal timing was associated with more externalizing problems among youth living in high-income neighborhoods, but not among those in low-income neighborhoods (interaction-p = 0.006). Results suggest that pubertal timing may affect youth mental health differentially in boys and girls, depending on the neighborhood contexts. These findings highlight the importance of both biological and social forces in shaping adolescent mental health and, thus, have public health and clinical implications for health promotion.

The Role of Fetal, Infant, and Childhood Nutrition in the Timing of Sexual Maturation

Puberty is a crucial developmental stage in the life span, necessary to achieve reproductive and somatic maturity. Timing of puberty is modulated by and responds to central neurotransmitters, hormones, and environmental factors leading to hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis maturation. The connection between hormones and nutrition during critical periods of growth, like fetal life or infancy, is fundamental for metabolic adaptation response and pubertal development control and prediction. Since birth weight is an important indicator of growth estimation during fetal life, restricted prenatal growth, such as intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) and small for gestational age (SGA), may impact endocrine system, affecting pubertal development. Successively, lactation along with early life optimal nutrition during infancy and childhood may be important in order to set up timing of sexual maturation and provide successful reproduction at a later time. Sexual maturation and healthy growth are also influenced by nutrition requirements and diet composition. Early nutritional surveillance and monitoring of pubertal development is recommended in all children, particularly in those at risk, such as the ones born SGA and/or IUGR, as well as in the case of sudden weight gain during infancy. Adequate macro and micronutrient intake is essential for healthy growth and sexual maturity.