Abstract B136: Early age at menarche in Mexican American girls: Psychosocial risk factors

Abstract

Abstract An earlier age at menarche is a risk factor for breast cancer and national statistics indicate that girls of Mexican American descent are continuing to experience a decline in the average age at menarche from 12.4 to 12.0 years. While there is a large body of literature on the factors influencing an early age at menarche in non-Hispanic whites, limited data have been collected on psychosocial and maternal factors contributing to earlier age at menarche among Mexican American girls. Using data from a longitudinal prospective study of smoking initiation among youth of Mexican origin in Houston, Texas, we investigate the role of family life environment, parental marital status and socioeconomic status on age at menarche, after adjustment for recognized covariates such as maternal age at menarche and body mass of the index. Participants (N = 540 girls) in this study were aged 9–13 years at baseline, when information on family life environment and anthropometric measurements were collected. At the final follow-up home visit three years later, data on age at menarche was self-reported while information about education, house ownership and marital status were obtained from the mother of each girl. Using multiple logistic regression analysis, we calculated the odds ratio of specific psychosocial exposures among girls who started menarche early (<12 years) compared to those who started at a later/normal age (≥12 years). Overall, the mean age at menarche was 11.65 years with more than 40% of the girls starting menarche at 11 years or younger. After adjusting for age, body mass index and mother's age at menarche, we found no relationship between maternal education, household ownership, girls' perception of their family life environment as conflict-prone, cohesive, authoritarian, expressive or laissez-faire and age at menarche. In contrast, there was a 2-fold increase in the odds of early menarche among girls whose parents were single heads of households compared to those whose parents were married (OR: 2.03; CI: 1.07–3.87). The mean age at menarche of 11.63 years in our population was younger then previous reports among nationally representative samples of Mexican American girls. In addition, our study provides important information regarding the role of family structure (marital status) on age at menarche and identifies a factor—single parenting—that is a marker for girls who enter menarche early. Although additional research is needed to corroborate our findings, awareness of the impact of fathers' absence and their involvement in their daughters' lives during the early years should be emphasized when addressing factors contributing to age at menarche. Citation Information: Cancer Prev Res 2010;3(1 Suppl):B136.