Abstract
The relative nature of pubertal timing has received little attention in research linking early pubertal development with psychological adjustment. The current study examines the dynamic association between pubertal timing and internalizing symptoms among an urban, ethnically diverse sample of girls (n = 1,167; 50% Latina, 30% Black/African American, 11% Asian, 9% White). By relying on six waves of data, we detected substantial within-person variability in pubertal timing, which in turn related to fluctuations in depressive symptoms, global self-worth, and social anxiety in multilevel analyses. Within-person changes in the direction of more advanced development compared to peers consistently predicted more depressive symptoms; however, more advanced development was related to lower self-worth only at the beginning of middle school. By the end of middle school, less advanced development predicted social anxiety. Results challenge the notion that pubertal timing is a stable individual characteristic, with implications for studying the psychosocial correlates of pubertal development across multiple years.
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Acknowledgments
This study was funded by grants from the National Science Foundation (BCS-9911525) and the William T. Grant Foundation (99100463) awarded to Sandra Graham and Jaana Juvonen and a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) to Bridget Reynolds (F31 MH074244). We thank Drs. Sandra Graham, Rena Repetti, Andrew Fuligni, and Ted Robles for their comments and advice on earlier drafts of this paper. We would also like to thank Mike Robinson, the Peer Project, and the Relationships and Health Lab for their invaluable feedback and support.
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Reynolds, B.M., Juvonen, J. Pubertal Timing Fluctuations across Middle School: Implications for Girls’ Psychological Health. J Youth Adolescence 41, 677–690 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-011-9687-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-011-9687-x