This research explored sex
differences in the pathways linking pubertal timing to depression across 4
years. A sample of 167 youth (M age
= 12.41 years, SD =
1.19) and their caregivers completed measures of puberty and semistructured
interviews of interpersonal stress and youth depression. Youth reported on
psychological (negative self-focus, anxious arousal) and social–behavioral
(coping) characteristics; parents reported on youths’ social–behavioral
characteristics (withdrawal/social problems) and deviant peer affiliations.
Early maturation predicted stable high trajectories of depression in girls;
although early maturing boys showed low initial levels of depression, they did
not differ from girls by the final wave of the study. Latent growth curve
analyses identified several psychological, social–behavioral, and interpersonal
pathways accounting for the contribution of pubertal timing to initial and
enduring risk for depression in girls as well as emerging risk for depression
in boys. These findings provide novel insight into multilevel processes
accounting for sex differences in depression across the adolescent transition.
...Although the contribution of pubertal timing to depression
is well established, research is limited by an overreliance on cross-sectional
or two-wave longitudinal designs and failure to track within-individual change
over time. These constraints raise three critical substantive questions: (a)
Does off-time maturation generate temporary perturbations in depression during
or shortly after onset of puberty (or lack of onset in late-maturing youth) or
do adverse effects endure across adolescence? (b) If off-time maturation exerts
both initial and long-term effects, are these effects similar? (c) Does puberty
predict similar or different absolutelevels
of depression in girls and boys? Tracking individual changes in depression over
time, Part 1 of this study reveals that the consequences of early maturation
for depression persist across 4 years and there are key sex-linked differences
between the initial and long-term effects.
Consistent with the stage-termination hypothesis,
early maturation predicted elevated initial depression (reflecting close to
“moderate” symptoms, consistent with a diagnosis of minor depression) in girls.
As reflected in a significant sex difference, the effect for boys was opposite
in direction (albeit nonsignificant), and late-maturing boys showed
significantly higher initial depression than did late-maturing girls. Examining
trajectories over time, early maturation predicted stable high depression in
girls and increasing depression in boys; early maturing girls and boys did not
significantly differ by the end of the study. These findings indicate the need
to consider not only patterns of change but also absolute levels of
psychopathology over time. That is, early maturation created an early and
stable risk in girls. In contrast, this timing somewhat favored boys initially
but posed a risk over time; late-maturing boys ultimately showed the lowest
level of depression (close to none) overall.
These results confirm the differing significance of
off-time development for initial versus emerging depression in boys,
demonstrating the importance of tracking symptoms within individuals over time.
Some of the desirable aspects of puberty may provide a brief psychological and
social boost to boys when they first appear but perhaps are overcome by longer
term adverse effects that trigger depression over time (Mendle et al., 2010).
Our results for girls generally are consistent with prior research. In this
study, trajectories were high and stable over time; in others, early maturing
girls showed increasing (Ge et al., 2001a; Mendle et al., 2010)
or curvilinear (increasing and then slightly decreasing; DeRose et al., 2011; Natsuaki et al., 2009) trajectories over time.
The precise nature of the trajectories likely depends on the age range and
length of follow-up. However, studies converge on the conclusion that (a) early
maturing girls face the highest risk for depression early in adolescence and
(b) this effect persists for at least several years. In sum, both early
maturing girls and boys show distinct risks for depression across adolescence,
leaving open the question of the processes through which this risk emerges...
Full article at: http://goo.gl/LW4MXY
By:
aUniversity of Illinois, Urbana–Champaign
bNorth Dakota State University
cGeorge Washington University
dUniversity of California, Riverside
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Karen D.
Rudolph, Department of Psychology, University of Illinois, 617 Psychology
Building, 603 East Daniel Street, Champaign, IL 61820; Email: ude.sionilli@hplodurk
More at: https://twitter.com/hiv_insight
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