Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-cfpbc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T08:02:34.770Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

14 - Puberty in context

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 September 2009

By
Julia A. Graber
Edited by
Chris Hayward
Julia A. Graber
Affiliation:
Assistant Professor of Psychology, University of Florida
Chris Hayward
Affiliation:
Stanford University, California
Get access

Summary

Examinations of links between pubertal development and various outcomes (e.g., psychopathology, reproductive behaviors) have focused on both the effects of puberty on behavior as well as on how context and behavior influence the course of puberty. The interest in puberty as a defining transition in the course of development is in many ways based on circumstantial evidence. That is, rates of psychopathology change dramatically in the late pubertal to postpubertal period for several common disorders, such as depression and conduct disorder (e.g., Lewinsohn, et al., 1993; Loeber and Keenan, 1994). In addition, gender differences in rates of depression also emerge at this time (see chapter 8). The challenge to researchers interested in developmental process and the health outcomes of adolescents has been to demonstrate that some link or links actually exist between pubertal development and these behavioral and adjustment changes. Furthermore, if such links exist to what extent are they explanatory in rates of psychopathology in adolescence and to what extent do they identify strategies for prevention and intervention for adolescent mental health.

Historically, it has long been assumed that puberty was an important causal element in adolescent adjustment and behavior. This “assumption” is no small factor in our understanding of adolescent development and prevention and intervention for mental health. Although Buchanan and her colleagues (Buchanan, Eccles, and Becker, 1992) attempted to lay to rest the notion of “raging hormones” in their now classic review of the hormone and behavior literature prior to 1992, the reality is that most parents, teachers, and even adolescents themselves believe that raging hormones exist and that they explain behavior.

Type
Chapter
Information
Gender Differences at Puberty , pp. 307 - 325
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2003

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andersson, T., and Magnusson, D. (1990). Biological maturation in adolescence and the development of drinking habits and alcohol abuse among young males: a prospective longitudinal study. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 19, 33–41CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Angold, A., Costello, E. J., and Worthman, C. M. (1998). Puberty and depression: the roles of age, pubertal status and pubertal timing. Psychological Medicine, 28, 51–61CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Archibald, A. B., Graber, J. A., and Brooks-Gunn, J. (2003). Physical development and the adolescent. In G. R. Adams and M. Berzonsky (ed.), Handbook on adolescence. Oxford: Blackwell
Bean, J. A., Leeper, J. D., Wallace, R. B., Sherman, B. M., and Jagger, H. J. (1979). Variations in the reporting of menstrual histories. American Journal of Epidemiology, 109, 181–185CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Belsky, J., Steinberg, L., and Draper, P. (1991). Childhood experience, interpersonal development, and reproductive strategy: an evolutionary theory of socialization. Child Development, 62, 647–670CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Biro, F. M., Lucky, A. W., Huster, G. A., and Morrison, J. A. (1995). Pubertal staging in boys. Journal of Pediatrics, 127, 100–102CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brooks-Gunn, J. (1984). The psychological significance of different pubertal events to young girls. Journal of Early Adolescence, 4(4), 315–327CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brooks-Gunn, J., and Warren, M. P. (1988). Mother–daughter differences in menarcheal age in adolescent girls attending national dance company schools and non-dancers. Annals of Human Biology, 15(1), 35–43CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brooks-Gunn, J., Graber, J. A., and Paikoff, R. L. (1994). Studying links between hormones and negative affect: models and measures. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 4(4), 469–486CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brooks-Gunn, J., Petersen, A. C., and Elchorn, D. (1985). The study of maturational timing effects in adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 14(3), 149–161CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buchanan, C. M., Eccles, J. S., and Becker, J. B. (1992). Are adolescents the victims of raging hormones: evidence for activational effects of hormones on moods and behavior at adolescence. Psychological Bulletin, 111, 62–107CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Caspi, A., and Moffitt, T. E. (1991). Individual differences are accentuated during periods of social change: the sample case of girls at puberty. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 61, 157–168CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Clayton, P. E., and Trueman, J. A. (2000). Leptin and puberty. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 83, 1–4CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Conger, R. D., Ge, X., Elder, G. H. Jr., Lorenz, F. O., and Simons, R. L. (1994). Economic stress, coercive family process, and developmental problems of adolescents. Child Development, 65, 541–561CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dick, D. M., Rose, R. J., Kaprio, J., and Viken, R. J. (2000). Pubertal timing and substance use: associations between and within families across late adolescence. Developmental Psychology, 36, 180–189CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ellis, B. J., and Garber, J. (2000). Psychosocial antecedents of variation in girls' pubertal timing: maternal depression, stepfather presence, and marital and family stress. Child Development, 71, 485–501CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ellis, B. J., McFadyen-Ketchum, S., Dodge, K. A., Pettit, G. S., and Bates, J. E. (1999). Quality of early family relationships and individual differences in the timing of pubertal maturation in girls: a longitudinal test of an evolutionary model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77, 387–401CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Frisch, R. E. (1983). Fatness, puberty, and fertility: the effects of nutrition and physical training on menarche and ovulation. In J. Brooks-Gunn and A. C. Petersen, Girls at puberty: biological and psychosocial perspectives (pp. 29–50). New York: PlenumCrossRef
Ge, X., Conger, R. D., and Elder, G. H. Jr. (2001a). Pubertal transition, stressful life events, and the emergence of gender differences in adolescent depressive symptoms. Developmental Psychology, 37, 404–417CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ge, X., Conger, R. D., and Elder, G. H. Jr. (2001b). The relationship between puberty and psychological distress in adolescent boys. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 11, 49–70CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Geronimus, A. T., Bound, J., and Waidmann, T. A. (1999). Poverty, time, and place: variation in excess mortality across selected US populations, 1980–1990. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 53, 325–334CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gladen, B. C., Ragan, N. B., and Rogan, W. J. (2000). Pubertal growth and development and prenatal and lactational exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls and dichlorodiphenyl dichloroethene. Journal of Pediatrics, 136, 490–496CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Graber, J. A., and Brooks-Gunn, J. (2002). Adolescent females' sexual development. In G. M. Wingood and R. J. DiClemente (ed.), Women's sexual and reproductive health: social, psychological and public health perspectives (pp. 21–42). New York: Plenum
Graber, J. A., Archibald, A. B., and Brooks-Gunn, J. (1999). The role of parents in the emergence, maintenance, and prevention of eating problems and disorders. In N. Piran, M. P. Levine, and C. Steiner-Adair (ed.), Preventing eating disorders: a handbook of interventions and special challenges (pp. 44–62). Philadelphia, PN: Brunner/Mazel
Graber, J. A., Brooks-Gunn, J., Paikoff, R. L., and Warren, M. P. (1994). Prediction of eating problems: an eight-year study of adolescent girls. Developmental Psychology, 30, 823–834CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Graber, J. A., Brooks-Gunn, J., and Warren, M. P. (1995). The antecedents of menarcheal age: heredity, family environment, and stressful life events. Child Development, 66, 346–359CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Graber, J. A., Brooks-Gunn, J., and Warren, M. P. (in press). Pubertal effects on adjustment in girls: moving from demonstrating effects to identifying pathways. Journal of Youth and Adolescence
Graber, J. A., Lewinsohn, P. M., Seeley, J. R., and Brooks-Gunn, J. (1997). Is psychopathology associated with the timing of pubertal development?Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 36, 1768–1776CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Graber, J. A., Petersen, A. C., and Brooks-Gunn, J. (1996). Pubertal processes: methods, measures, and models. In J. A. Graber, J. Brooks-Gunn, and A. C. Petersen (ed.), Transitions through adolescence: interpersonal domains and context (pp. 23–53). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum
Grumbach, M. M., and Styne, D. M. (1998). Puberty: ontogeny, neuroendocrinology, physiology, and disorders. In J. D. Wilson, D. W. Fostor, and H. M. Kronenberg (ed.), Williams textbook of endocrinology (pp. 1509–1625). Philadelphia, PN: W. B. Saunders
Hayward, C., Gotlib, I. H., Schraedley, P. K., and Litt, I. F. (1999). Ethnic differences in the association between pubertal status and symptoms of depression in adolescent girls. Journal of Adolescent Health, 25, 143–149CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hayward, C., Killen, J. D., Wilson, D. M., Hammer, L. D., Litt, I. F., Kraemer, H. C., Haydel, F., Varady, A., and Taylor, C. B. (1997). Psychiatric risk associated with early puberty in adolescent girls. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 36, 255–262Google ScholarPubMed
Herman-Giddens, M. E., Slora, , et al., (1997). Secondary sexual characteristics and menses in young girls seen in office practice: a study from the Pediatric Research in Office Settings network. Pediatrics, 99(4), 505–512CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Herman-Giddens, M. E., Wang, L., and Koch, G. (2001). Secondary sexual characteristics in boys. Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, 155(9), 1022–1028CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hernandez, D. J. (1993). America's children: resources from family, government, and the economy. New York: Russell Sage Foundation
Himes, J. H., and Dietz, W. H. (1994). Guidelines of overweight in adolescent preventive services: recommendations from an expert committee. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 59, 307–316CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Horlick, M. B., Rosenbaum, M., Nicolson, M., Levine, L. S., Fedun, B., Wang, J., Pierson, R. N. Jr., and Leibel, R. L. (2000). Effect of puberty on the relationship between circulating leptin and body composition. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 85, 2509–2518Google ScholarPubMed
Jessor, R. (1992). Risk behavior in adolescence: a psychosocial framework for understanding and action. In D. E. Rogers and E. Ginzberg (ed.), Adolescents at risk: medical and social perspectives (pp. 19–34). Boulder, CO: WestviewCrossRef
Jones, M. C. (1965). Psychological correlates of somatic development. Child Development, 56, 899–911CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, M. C., and Mussen, P. H. (1958). Self-conceptions, motivations, and interpersonal attitudes of early and late-maturing girls. Child Development, 29, 491–501Google ScholarPubMed
Kaplowitz, P. B., Oberfield, S. E., and Drug and Therapeutics and Executive Committees of the Lawson Wilkins Pediatric Endocrine Society (1999). Reexamination of the age limit for defining when puberty is precocious in girls in the United States: implications for evaluation and treatment. Pediatrics, 104, 936–941CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lewinsohn, P. M., Hops, H., Roberts, R. E., Seeley, J. R., and Andrews, J. A. (1993). Adolescent psychopathology. I: Prevalence and incidence of depression and other DSM III-R disorders in high school students. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 102, 133–144CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lewis, C. E., Jacobs, D. R. Jr., McCreath, H., Kiefe, C. I., Schreiner, P. J., Smith, D. E., and Williams, O. D. (2000). Weight gain continues in the 1990s: ten-year trends in weight and overweight from the CARDIA study. American Journal of Epidemiology, 151, 1172–1181CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Loeber, R., and Keenan, K. (1994). Interaction between conduct disorder and its comorbid conditions: effects of age and gender. Clinical Psychology Review, 14, 497–523CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marshall, W. A., and Tanner, J. M. (1986). Puberty. In F. Falkner and J. M. Tanner (ed.), Human growth, vol. II, Postnatal growth neurobiology (pp. 171–209). New York: PlenumCrossRef
McEwen, B. S. (1994). How do sex and stress hormones affect nerve cells?Annals New York Academy of Sciences, 743, 1–18CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McLoyd, V. C., Jayaratne, T. E., Ceballo, R., and Borquez, J. (1994). Unemployment and work interruption among African American single mothers: effects on parenting and adolescent socioemotional functioning. Child Development, 65, 562–589CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moffitt, T. E., Caspi, A., Belsky, J., and Silva, P. A. (1992). Childhood experience and the onset of menarche: a test of a sociobiological model. Child Development, 63, 47–58CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Growth and Health Study Research Group (1992). Obesity and cardiovascular disease risk factors in black and white girls: the NHLBI growth and health study. American Journal of Public Health, 82, 1613–1620CrossRef
Neugarten, B. L. (1979). Time, age and life cycle. American Journal of Psychiatry, 136, 887–894Google ScholarPubMed
Obeidallah, D. A., Brennan, R., Brooks-Gunn, J., Kindlon, D., and Earls, F. E. (2000). Socioeconomic status, race, and girls' pubertal maturation: results from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 10, 443–464CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Offer, D. (1987). In defense of adolescents. Journal of the American Medical Association, 257, 3407–3408CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Paikoff, R., and Brooks-Gunn, J. (1991). Do parent–child relationships change during puberty?Psychological Bulletin, 110(1), 47–66CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Petersen, A. C. (1987). The nature of biological-psychosocial interactions: the sample case of early adolescence. In R. M. Lerner and T. T. Foch (ed.), Biological-psychosocial interactions in early adolescence: a life-span perspective (pp. 35–61). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum
Petersen, A. C., Sarigiani, P. A., and Kennedy, R. E. (1991). Adolescent depression: why more girls?Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 20, 247–271CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Petersen, A. C., and Taylor, B. (1980). The biological approach to adolescence: biological change and psychological adaptation. In J. Adelson (ed.), Handbook of adolescent psychology (pp. 117–155). New York: John Wiley
Reiter, E. O., and Grumbach, M. M. (1982). Neuroendocrine control mechanisms and the onset of puberty. Annual Review of Physiology, 44, 595–613CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Reiter, E. O., and Lee, P. A. (2001). Have the onset and tempo of puberty changed?Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, 155, 988–989CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Simmons, R. G., and Blyth, D. A. (1987). Moving into adolescence: the impact of pubertal change and school context. Hawthorne, NY: De Gruyter
Stattin, H., and Magnusson, D. (1990). Paths through life, vol. II, Pubertal maturation in female development. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum
Steinberg, L. (1988). Reciprocal relation between parent–child distance and pubertal maturation. Developmental Psychology, 24, 122–128CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stice, E., Presnell, K., and Bearman, S. K. (2001). Relation of early menarche to depression, eating disorders, substance abuse, and comorbid psychopathology among adolescent girls. Developmental Psychology, 37, 608–619CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Surbey, M. K. (1990). Family composition, stress, and the timing of human menarche. In T. E. Ziegler and F. B. Bercovitch (ed.), Socioendocrinology of primate reproduction (pp. 11–32). New York: John Wiley
Trickett, P. K., and Putnam, F. W. (1993). Impact of child sexual abuse on females: toward a developmental, psychobiological integration. Psychological Science, 4, 81–87CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Warren, M. P. (1980). The effects of exercise on pubertal progression and reproductive function in girls. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 51, 1150–1157CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wichstrom, L. (2001). The impact of pubertal timing on adolescents' alcohol use. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 11, 131–150CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, J. M., and Dunlop, L. C. (1999). Pubertal timing and self-reported delinquency among male adolescents. Journal of Adolescence, 22, 157–171CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zacharias, L., and Wurtman, R. J. (1969). Age at menarche: genetic and environmental influences. New England Journal of Medicine, 280, 868–875CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • Puberty in context
  • Edited by Chris Hayward, Stanford University, California
  • Book: Gender Differences at Puberty
  • Online publication: 22 September 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511489716.015
Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Puberty in context
  • Edited by Chris Hayward, Stanford University, California
  • Book: Gender Differences at Puberty
  • Online publication: 22 September 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511489716.015
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Puberty in context
  • Edited by Chris Hayward, Stanford University, California
  • Book: Gender Differences at Puberty
  • Online publication: 22 September 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511489716.015
Available formats
×