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Family Conditions May Affect when Girls Experience Puberty |
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From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Early puberty in girls has been found to negatively affect these teenagers' health in areas such as mood disorders, substance abuse, adolescent pregnancy, and cancers of the reproductive system. New research shows that greater support from mothers and fathers, as well as less marital conflict and depression (as reported by fathers), can lead to later onset of puberty. The findings, from researchers at the University of Arizona and the University of Wisconsin--Madison, are published in the November/December 2007 issue of the journal Child Development. According to Belsky's theory, children's early experiences affect how they mature, with certain stressors in and around the family creating conditions that speed puberty as well as sexual activity. These stressors include marital conflict, negativity and coercion in parent-child relationships, and lack of support between parents and children. To test this theory, the researchers investigated the effects of stressors on the timing of children's development by examining families of 227 preschool children over a period of time. The study followed the children through middle school, testing the first hormonal changes of puberty--the awakening of the adrenal glands--in 120 of the children (73 or whom were girls) when they were in first grade, and the development of secondary sexual characteristics--such as breast budding and the growth of body hair--in 180 girls when they were in fifth grade. "Consistent with the theory, quality of parental investment emerged as a central feature of the proximal family environment in relation to the timing of puberty," according to Bruce J. Ellis, associate professor of family studies and human development at the University of Arizona and the lead author of the study.
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