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Race and Perceived Pubertal Transition Effects on Girls’ Depressive Symptoms and Delinquent Behaviors

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Abstract

Most past research on the effects of early pubertal timing on girls’ depressive symptoms and delinquent behavior has focused on either age of menarche or has combined multiple indicators of development into a single index of puberty. Past research has rarely examined both the onset of puberty such as age of menarche, as well more psychologically mediated impressions of puberty (i.e., perceived pubertal timing) within the same study. This study extends past research on racial differences and pubertal related effects on girls’ depressive symptoms and delinquent behavior by examining the independent influence of different indicators of puberty (age of menarche, development of breasts, and perceived pubertal timing). Two waves of data (100 % females) were used from African Americans (N = 481) and European Americans (N = 1259) who were enrolled in seventh- and eighth-grade during the first wave of data collection in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Early age of menarche was associated with high levels of depressive symptoms at Wave 1. Additionally, both early and late perceived pubertal timing were associated with high levels of depressive symptoms and high delinquent behaviors at Wave 1. The structural relationships among these variables were similar for African Americans and European Americans. Age of menarche and perceived pubertal timing influenced depressive symptoms and delinquent behavior at Wave 2 through depressive symptoms and delinquent behavior reported at Wave 1. The implications of these findings are discussed with an emphasis on how the specific indicator used to assess puberty is important in efforts to understand pubertal timing effects.

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Acknowledgments

This research used data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), a project designed by J. Richard Udry, Peter S. Bearman, and Kathleen Mullan Harris, and funded by Grant P01-HD31921 from the NICHD, with cooperative funding from 17 other agencies. Special acknowledgment is owed to Ronald R. Rindfuss and Barbara Entwisle for assistance in the original design. To obtain data files from Add Health, contact Add Health, Carolina Population Center, 123 West Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27516-2524 (www.cpc.unc.edu/addhealth/contact.html).

Author contributions

R.C. conceived of the study, participated in its design and coordination, performed the statistical analysis; and drafted the manuscript; W.K.S helped to draft the manuscript and participated in its design and coordination; J.J. participated in its design, helped to perform the statistical analysis, and interpretation of the data. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48105, USA

    Rona Carter

  2. Department of Psychology, Florida International University, Miami, FL, 33199, USA

    Wendy K. Silverman

  3. Silver School of Social Work, New York University, New York, NY, 10003, USA

    James Jaccard

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  1. Rona Carter
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  2. Wendy K. Silverman
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  3. James Jaccard
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Correspondence to Rona Carter.

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Carter, R., Silverman, W.K. & Jaccard, J. Race and Perceived Pubertal Transition Effects on Girls’ Depressive Symptoms and Delinquent Behaviors. J Youth Adolescence 42, 1155–1168 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-012-9885-1

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