Quality of early family relationships and individual differences in the timing of pubertal maturation in girls: A longitudinal test of an evolutionary model.

Abstract

The onset of pubertal development has typically been viewed as an important marker of the transition into adolescence and is accompanied by major social and cognitive changes (J. J. Conger, 1984; Feldman & Elliot, 1990). Variations in the timing of pubertal maturation—in levels of physical and sexual development of adolescents compared with their same-age peers—have received considerable research attention. The most consistent finding to emerge from the literature is that early onset of puberty in girls is associated with negative health and psychosocial outcomes. In particular, early maturing girls are at greater risk later in life for breast cancer (e.g., Kampert, Whittemore, & Paffenbarger, 1988; Vihko & Apter, 1986) and unhealthy weight gain (e.g., Ness, 1991; Wellens et al., 1992); have higher rates of teenage pregnancy (e.g., Manlove, 1997; Udry & Cliquet, 1982); are more likely to have low-birthweight babies (Scholl et al., 1989); and tend to show more disturbances in body image, to report more emotional problems such as depression and anxiety, and to engage in more problem behaviors such as alcohol consumption and sexual promiscuity (e.g., Caspi & Moffitt, 1991; Flannery, Rowe, & Gulley, 1993; Graber, Lewinsohn, Seeley, & Brooks-Gunn, 1997; Mezzich et al., 1997; Susman, Nottleman, Inoff-Germain, Loriaux, & Chrousos, 1985). Although a good deal is now known about the sequelae of variations in pubertal timing in girls, relatively little is known about the social and psychological antecedents of this variation. Recent theory and data (e.g., Belsky, Steinberg, & Draper, 1991; Graber, Brooks-Gunn, & Warren, 1995) have suggested that an individual's experiences during childhood may influence the physiological mechanisms that initiate and control pubertal development. In this article, we examine antecedents of pubertal timing in adolescent girls in a community sample that has been followed prospectively from preschool through adolescence. We tested predictions from an evolution-based theory of the development of female reproductive strategies. These predictions concern the relation between the quality of early family relationships and individual differences in the timing of pubertal maturation.