Puberty as a biological and social event: Implications for research on pharmacology

doi:10.1016/S1054-139X(94)90634-3

Journal of Adolescent Health

Volume 15, Issue 8, December 1994, Pages 663-671

https://doi.org/10.1016/S1054-139X(94)90634-3 Get rights and content

Abstract

Pubertal processes take place against a backdrop of multiple changes in other domains. How pubertal processes intersect with social events may place some adolescents at risk for a variety of health-related behaviors, such as substance use, eating problems and/or excessive levels of exercise, depressed affect, smoking, and drinking. All of these behaviors may influence compliance in a drug trial as well as the physiological response to a specific pharmacological treatment.

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The purpose of this study was to examine relationships between physical symptoms and pubertal status and timing in adolescents.
This descriptive study was based on cross-sectional analysis of survey data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health including a school-based sample of more than 20,000 adolescents in grades 7 through 12. Self-reported physical symptoms during the past 12 months were examined. Pubertal development was measured as pubertal status (early, mid, and advanced pubertal) and timing (early timing, on time, and late timing).
Headaches and musculoskeletal pains were the most commonly reported symptoms among advanced pubertal status respondents. Headache was more prominent among girls; among boys, musculoskeletal complaints were predominant. For both sexes, on-time developers were less likely to report physical symptoms when compared with the two off-timing groups. Among girls, pubertal status and timing were more closely associated with various types of symptoms.
This study underscores the importance of both the objective signs of pubertal changes and youngsters' own perception of their pubertal changes in assessing and addressing physical symptoms.
Personality, puberty, and preadolescent girls' risky behaviors: Examining the predictive value of the Five-Factor Model of personality
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Few studies have considered the importance of personality characteristics in influencing young girls’ tendency to participate in health-compromising behaviors. The present study examined relations between 60 fifth grade girls’ ( $mean age =10.72$ years) self-reports and maternal reports of the Five-Factor Model of personality (FFM), pubertal development, and girls’ participation in risky behaviors one year later ( $mean age =11.74$ years). Results indicated that unconscientious and disagreeable girls were susceptible to participation in risky behaviors. These relations remained significant even after controlling for assessments of girls’ pubertal development. An interaction between girls’ openness to experience and pubertal development was found; girls who were open and who developed early were at risk for engaging in health-compromising behaviors. Findings are discussed in terms of their potential for helping health promotion efforts identify girls’ most at risk for adopting unhealthy behaviors.
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Puberty as a biological and social event: Implications for research on pharmacology

Abstract

J Adol Health Care

J Am Acad Child Adol Psychiatry

J Adol Health Care

Dev Review

Am J Clin Nutr

Adol Pediatrics and Gynecology

The role of pubertal processes in the early adolescent transition

The biological approach to adolescence: Biological change and psychological adaptation

The experience of breast development and girls; stories about the purchase of a bra

J Youth Adol

Biological contributions to affective expression in young adolescent girls

Child Devel

Development during adolescence: The impact of stage-environment fit in young adolescents' experiences in schools and in families

Am Psychologist

Promotion of health behavior in adolescence

Autonomy, conflict, and harmony in the family relationship

Do parent-child relationships change during puberty?

Psychological Bull

How stressful is the transition to adolescence in girls?

Adolescent depression: Why more girls?

J Youth Adol

Predicting how a child will cope with the transition to Junior High School

Changes of depressive symptoms in adolescent girls over four years: The effects of pubertal maturation and life events

The study of maturational timing effects in adolescence

J Youth Adol

Beyond adolescence: Problem behavior and young adult development

Biological maturation and social development: A longitudinal study of some adjustment processes from mid-adolescence to adulthood

J Youth Adol

Mood and behavior at adolescence: Evidence for hormonal factors

J Clin Endocrinol Metab

Moving into adolescence: The impact of pubertal change and school context

Depression in adolescence

Am Psychologist

Unraveling girls' delinquency: Biological, dispositional, and contextual contributions to adolescent misbehavior

Developmental Psych

Pubertal maturation in female development

Menarche: Meaning of measures and measuring meaning

Timing of menarche and initial menstrual experience

J Youth Adolescence

Validity of self-report measures of girls' pubertal status

Child Devel

Adolescents' self-assessment of sexual maturation

Pediatrics

Validation of a self-administered instrument to assess stage of adolescent development

J Youth Adol

A self-report measure of pubertal status: Reliability, validity, and initial norms

J Youth Adol

The psychological significance of secondary sexual characteristics in 9- to 11-year-old girls

Child Devel

Development of eating problems in adolescent girls: A longitudinal study

Developmental Psych

Hormones, emotional dispositions, and aggressive attributes in early adolescents

Child Devel

Physical growth and performance during the transitional years (9–16)

Sequence, tempo, and individual variation in growth and development of boys and girls aged twelve to sixteen