Early Adolescent Girls Research Articles

Effects of Maturation on Plantar Flexor Activity and Achilles Tendon Stiffness in Vertical Jumping: Sex Differences.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of maturation on vertical jumping performance, in adolescent boys and girls, concerning plantar flexor activity and Achilles tendon (AT) stiffness. Thirty-nine adolescents were tested in a counter-movement jump (CMJ) at three different time points: 18 and 9 months before peak height velocity (PHV) and at PHV. The EMG activity of the medialis gastrocnemius (MG) and tibialis anterior (TA) muscles was evaluated, in relation to jump height. Boys showed higher jumping ability and AT stiffness than girls. Additionally, boys revealed increased eccentric (ecc) and concentric (con) MG activity, along with decreased ecc and con TA activity, near PHV. On the other hand, girls showed increased ecc and con TA/MG co-contraction compared to boys, mainly near PHV. In conclusion, a different mechanism of vertical jumping performance is adopted between early adolescent boys and girls. Nevertheless, no notable alterations in jumping capability were detected over time, indicating that the maturation process does not influence stretch-shortening cycle (SSC) performance.

Influence of Peer Body Shape Norm and Peer Pressure Related to Body Shape on Social Media on Body Image Over-distortion of Early Adolescent Girls

This study aimed to explore the characteristics of early adolescent girls with an over-distorted body image and to examine the influence of peer descriptive norm and peer injunctive norm related to body shape and peer pressure for thinness on social media on body image over-distortion. The participants were 505 female adolescents in the 1st and 2nd grades of middle school. Descriptive statistics, frequency analysis, and binary logistic regression were used to analyze the data with SPSS 26.0. The results were as follows. First, the body image over-distortion group contained more 2nd-grader early adolescent girls than 1st graders and approximately three-quarters of the body image over-distortion group had previously attempted to lose weight. Second, peer pressure for thinness on social media significantly predicted whether early adolescent girls were in the body image over-distortion group compared to the non-distortion group. These outcomes suggest that it is necessary to create a social media culture that encourages early adolescent girls to have a realistic and healthy body shape. The results also highlight the importance of developing social media literacy education programs that inform early adolescents of the potential harm of negative comments on social media, and teach them how to recognize and dismiss indiscriminate and harmful comments and contents on social media.

Building Parental Capacity: Outcomes of a Therapeutic Parent Group Run Concurrently with a Social Skills Group for Their Young Person

Introduction: Raising a child with social communication and emotion regulation challenges, such as those experienced in the context of an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is associated with family disruption and parental stress. Research shows that parents of children and young people with ASD can experience challenges in managing their child’s behaviour and experience a sense of disconnectedness, a lack of support from the “system”, and a broader lack of understanding within the community. Methods: A therapeutic parent group was held in parallel to a young person group working on social skills. The young person cohort included both boys and girls in early adolescence with neurodevelopmental diagnoses. The parent group provided a space for participants to focus on themselves, tune into their own emotions, and receive support in relation to their lived experiences of parenting. Parental outcomes were assessed using standard measures, and the experiences of the groups were captured qualitatively through focus groups with both parents and staff. Results: The project found that the therapeutic parent group was effective in supporting parents to feel less stressed and more in control, as well as less alone in their parenting journey. Qualitative data indicated that the groups filled an identified need within the service and were engaging and acceptable to parents.

Relationship between peer conformity and reproductive health maintenance behaviours among early adolescent girls in Islamic boarding schools

Reproductive health problems are often experienced by early adolescents who live in Islamic boarding schools because Islamic boarding schools have a higher population density and interpersonal contact than other schools. In the early adolescent years, there is a tendency in terms of a solid urge to behave like peers, so conformity quickly occurs when adolescents adopt reproductive health care behaviours. This study aimed to determine the relationship between peer conformity and reproductive health maintenance behaviour of early adolescent girls at Islamic boarding schools. This study used a correlational research design with a cross-sectional approach and a purposive sampling technique conducted on 165 early adolescents. The analytical method used for this study was univariate and bivariate analysis tests, in bivariate tests using the Pearson test processed with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) program. The analysis showed that all early adolescents (100%) had a history of vaginal discharge. The results of the bivariate test showed a value of p=0.0001. The level of reproductive health maintenance behaviour is determined by the extent to which conformity occurs in adolescents. Conformity that occurs can affect and change one's perceptions and behaviour.

Family and parenting factors are associated with emotion regulation neural function in early adolescent girls with elevated internalizing symptoms.

A prominent tripartite model proposes that parent role modeling of emotion regulation, emotion socialization behaviors, and the emotional climate of the family are important for young people's emotional development. However, limited research has examined the neural mechanisms at play. Here, we examined the associations between family and parenting factors, the neural correlates of emotional reactivity and regulation, and internalizing symptoms in early adolescent girls. Sixty-four female adolescents aged 10-12 years with elevated internalizing symptoms completed emotional reactivity, implicit (affect labeling) and explicit (cognitive reappraisal) emotion regulation tasks during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Positive family emotional climate was associated with greater activation in the anterior cingulate and middle temporal cortices during emotional reactivity. Maternal emotion regulation difficulties were associated with increased frontal pole and supramarginal gyrus activation during affect labeling, whereas supportive maternal emotion socialization and positive family emotional climate were associated with activation in prefrontal regions, including inferior frontal and superior frontal gyri, respectively, during cognitive reappraisal. No mediating effects of brain function were observed in the associations between family/parenting factors and adolescent symptoms. These findings highlight the role of family and parenting behaviors in adolescent emotion regulation neurobiology, and contribute to prominent models of adolescent emotional development.

Peer sexual harassment, appearance esteem, and emotional problems: Testing a mediation model across early adolescence.

This study used a longitudinal sample of early adolescent boys and girls (ages 10-12; N = 1113) to test a theoretically and empirically informed model suggesting that exposure to peer sexual harassment (age 10) predicts more emotional problems (age 12), and that lower appearance esteem (age 11) mediates this relation. On the within-person level, which is the level on which the processes theoretically should play out, we found no support for the proposed mediation model for boys or for girls. Unexpectedly, we found that following times of more exposure to peer sexual harassment than usual, early adolescents instead experienced higher appearance esteem and fewer emotional problems than usual. More research is needed to replicate and understand these unexpected findings.

Effectiveness of Adolescent Interactive Education Program on Knowledge About Child Sexual Abuse and Self-Protection Among Early Adolescent Girls from Selected Urban School of Bengaluru, Karnataka.

In India, child sexual abuse is a widespread, serious, and long-growing problem. Children are generally abused by the people known to them and less likely by strangers. A majority of people remain numb about the issues because of fear, denial from the community and social stigma and also result in less reported cases among the victims. Our aim was to assess early adolescent girl's knowledge on child sexual abuse and self-protection and assess the effectiveness of interactive education programs. For the study, we adopted one group of pre-test and post-test designs. A total of 30 early adolescent girls from a selected school participated. The intervention consisted of interactive education program using role-play, discussion, storytelling, and audiovisual aids. Knowledge about CSA and self-protection was assessed pre- and post-intervention. There were significant changes in the knowledge score of pre-test from post-test (t = -7.632, P < 0.001) following interactive sessions. Also, the mean for self-protection was significantly lower than the post-test mean. After the intervention, there were significant changes in the knowledge score of pre-test from post-test (t = -5.722, P < 0.001). The results also show that the education of parents and monthly family income had significant association with the pre-intervention knowledge level. Interactive education program effectively increases the knowledge level on CSA and self-protection.

Aggressive behaviors in urban African American early adolescent girls: A systematic review of the literature

Increased media attention to youth violence perpetrated by early adolescent girls over the past two decades and increased arrests of girls has disproportionately impacted girls of color, specifically African American girls. Research on issues, policies, and programs for girls of color at heightened risk for aggression and violence perpetration has remained limited. We conducted a systematic review of studies published in English from January 1999 to December 2022 to better understand and identify the types of aggressive and violent behaviors in which African American early adolescent girls in urban locations engage as well as risk and protective factors associated with identified behaviors. In our systematic search of five databases, we captured 1,206 studies that were potentially relevant to our review. Removing duplicate studies and conducting title/abstract and full-text review resulted in the identification of 20 studies that met pre-specified review eligibility criteria. Synthesis of information that was systematically extracted from these 20 included studies revealed that in a little over two decades, few studies have examined aggressive and violent behaviors among early adolescent African American girls, although such research is critical to developing effective intervention and prevention strategies to support the healthy development of this group of young people.

Maturity Affects Static Balance in Early Adolescent Boys and Girls Associated with Achilles Tendon Stiffness

Maturity Affects Static Balance in Early Adolescent Boys and Girls Associated with Achilles Tendon Stiffness

Adolescent marriage a violation of sexual and reproductive health rights: Trend, spatial variation and covariate analysis from national family health survey

IntroductionTen-to-Nineteen-year adolescent period is a very sensitive time for both boys and girls. Especially adolescent girls suffer more due to early marriage and its consequences of unintended pregnancy, unsafe abortion, high risk for sexually transmitted disease etc. ObjectiveThis study tried to analyse trend and spatial variation of adolescent girls' marriage practice in India. Further, this study is also tried to identify major socio-economic factors responsible for adolescent girl's marriage. MethodsPresent study utilized different rounds of National Family Health Survey (NFHS) data. Trend analysis carried out with the help of 3rd, 4th and 5th round of NFHS data. Bivariate distribution and logistic regression are used for identifying determining factors for adolescent girls’ marriage. ResultsTrend analysis result reveals the declining trend of early adolescent girls' marriage in India. However, the data reveals early girl's marriage practice is still very high. This practice is more in the states of Tripura (31%) followed by West Bengal (28%). Place of residence, wealth status, education status and mass media exposure are the main determining factors in early marriage. ConclusionMost of the states in Eastern and North-Eastern states are having high prevalence of adolescent marriage. Thus, there is an urgent need to focus on these states along with addressing socio-economic disparities. Further, there is a need of effective interventions of girl specific programmes like Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Balika Samridhi yojana etc. working for empowerment and wellbeing of adolescent girls.

Menstrual hygiene among the school-going early adolescent girls (10-14 Years): A socio-cultural study in Bankura District, West Bengal, India

The onset of menstruation is a significant milestone in female puberty, marking the transition from girlhood to womanhood and initiating the reproductive phase of a woman's life. In Indian society, menstruation is associated with a myriad of traditions, myths, misconceptions, taboos, and superstitions. Open discussions about menstruation management are rare. Various socio-cultural influences propagate negative or erroneous information among girls, detrimentally affecting their understanding of menstrual hygiene and safe practices. This cross-sectional study focuses on early adolescent girls (aged 10-14 years) from a high school in the Bankura district of West Bengal, illuminating the socio-cultural factors that prevent them from gaining appropriate knowledge, attitudes, and practices concerning menstrual hygiene. The study found that 11.87% of the girls viewed menstruation as a result of a divine curse, 1.70% perceived it as a disease, and 54.23% lacked a clear understanding of this crucial life phase. Additionally, the majority were ignorant of the source of menstrual bleeding. A mere 8.47% of the girls had knowledge of menstruation before experiencing their first period (menarche). Most of girls didn’t even hear about menstruation before menarche. Thus, menstruation and its associated practices are overshadowed by prevalent taboos and socio-cultural misconceptions.

Early Adolescent Girls Develop Their Self-Worth through Participation and Achievement

Abstract &#x0D; 2022 marked 50 years since the passing of Title IX, which allowed girls and women to have equal opportunities to participate in sports. One of the impacts this bill has had on girls is that participation and achievement in sports help early adolescent girls develop their self-worth. A finding from a recent phenomenological study on early adolescent girls’ self-worth found that girls develop self-worth through feeling competent in important capacities in their lives. This article will focus especially on the development of self-worth as it connects participation in sports to the impact of Title IX on girls. Furthermore, the participants’ related understanding of misogyny, violence against women, and achievement in a patriarchal society will be discussed in order to improve safety and inclusion for girls in sports. &#x0D;

The role of autonomy granting and ethnic-racial socialization in Mexican-origin girls' ethnic-racial identity trajectories.

The current study examines the role of ethnic-racial socialization (ERS) and maternal autonomy granting in predicting ethnic-racial identity (ERI) exploration, resolution, and affirmation trajectories in a sample of Mexican-origin girls (N = 338) in early and middle adolescence at Wave 1. Latent growth curve analyses showed significant growth in ERI exploration, resolution, and affirmation over 3.5 years. ERS, autonomy granting, and their interaction were associated with ERI trajectories. Results also indicated significant differences between early and middle adolescents in the association between ERS, autonomy granting, and ERI exploration trajectories. Findings demonstrate the importance of concurrently examining contextual and developmental predictors of ERI formation. In addition, ERS may be particularly important for ERI development among early adolescents, whereas autonomy processes and development may play a more prominent role during middle adolescence. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Starting a Romantic Relationship, Breakups, and Sleep: A Longitudinal Study of Chinese Adolescents

ABSTRACT Background Epidemiological data on the association between romantic experiences and sleep in adolescents are limited. This study examined the associations of starting a romantic relationship (SRR) and romantic breakups with insomnia symptoms and sleep duration in adolescents. Methods A total of 7,072 Chinese adolescents were surveyed in November–December 2015 and 1 year later. A self-administered questionnaire was used to assess SRR, romantic breakups, sleep duration, insomnia symptoms, depressive symptoms, substance use, and demographics. Results The mean age of the sample was 14.58 (SD = 1.46) years and half were female. SRR only, breakups only, and both (SRR + breakups) in the past year were reported by 7.0%, 8.4%, and 15.4% of the sample, respectively. At the baseline and 1-year follow-up, 15.2% and 14.7% of the sample had insomnia symptoms and 47.7% and 42.1% reported short sleep duration (<7 h/night), respectively. After adjusting for depressive symptoms, substance use, and demographics, SRR and breakups were significantly associated with 35–45% increased odds of insomnia symptoms at baseline. SRR + breakups were significantly associated with short sleep duration (OR = 1.28, 95%CI = 1.05–1.56). SRR (OR = 1.61, 95%CI = 1.16–2.23) and breakups (OR = 1.43, 95%CI = 1.04–1.96) were significantly associated with increased odds of incident insomnia symptoms at 1-year follow-up. These associations were stronger in younger adolescents (<15 years) than in older adolescents (≥15 years), especially in girls. Conclusions The findings suggest that SRR and breakups are associated with insomnia symptoms and short sleep duration, underscoring the importance of romantic relationships education and management of romantic stress for healthy sleep especially in early adolescent girls.

0752 Later chronotype, insufficient and disturbed sleep are linked to menstruation problems in early adolescent girls

Abstract Introduction Adolescence in girls is a vulnerable transitional period, characterized by substantial hormonal and physical development, the onset of menarche, dramatic brain development and changes in behavior, including sleep. Menstrual problems, including painful menses, are common among female adolescents, and contribute to school absenteeism. They may also be symptoms of gynecological conditions, which can negatively affect reproductive and general health of women. Limited work has linked sleep disturbances and menstrual problems in adolescents. Here, we examined the association between sleep behavior and menstrual problems in a large sample of adolescent girls in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study®. Methods We fitted linear mixed effect models to examine the associations between sleep behavior and menstrual problems in 1837 post-menarcheal girls (Year 3, Mean-age = 13.03, [12-15] years), assessed as part of the ongoing ABCD Study®. Sleep was assessed with the Munich Chronotype questionnaire (youth-report) and the sleep disturbance scale for children (caregiver-report). Girls answered questions about menstrual cycles and associated problems. We considered age, time since menarche, BMI, use of hormonal contraceptives, and socio-demographic characteristics in the models. Results Short sleep duration was related to higher menstrual pain intensity (p&amp;lt;.01), irregular menstrual cycles (p&amp;lt;.01) and more premenstrual symptoms (p=.01). Higher total sleep disturbance score (caregiver-reported) was also associated with higher menstrual pain intensity (p&amp;lt;.01) and greater impact of menstrual pain on usual activities (p&amp;lt;.01). Participants with a later chronotype (p=.04) and later wake-up time (p=.02) were more likely to experience an irregular menstrual cycle. Later wake-up time was also related to higher menstrual pain intensity and impact on daily life (p&amp;lt;.01). Girls with recent menarche reported heavier menstrual flow (p=.02), higher menstrual pain intensity, more premenstrual symptoms, and a greater overall impact of menstrual pain on their usual activities (p&amp;lt;.01). Conclusion Our results indicate multiple associations between sleep behavior and menstrual problems in adolescent girls. Both menstrual problems and insufficient sleep/sleep disturbances are important for female adolescent health and should be routinely screened for by healthcare providers and school health education providers. Future work is needed with longitudinal analyses to determine directionality of the associations we found between sleep and menstrual problems. Support (if any) NIH U01DA041022

Do Adolescents Engage in Delinquency to Cope with Depressive Symptoms? Revisiting the Longitudinal Link Between Delinquency and Depressive Symptoms While Considering Moderation by Ethnicity, Adolescent Phase, and Gender

The co-occurrence between delinquency and depression in adolescence is well-documented. However, Psychology (Failure model and Acting out Model) and Criminology (Strain Theory) theories are divided on the potential longitudinal link between these two behaviors and empirical studies show mixed findings. The present 3-wave longitudinal study tested these opposing theories, using cross-lagged panel modeling on an ethnically and socio-economically diverse sample (T1: N=602; Mage= 13.50 (SD = 1.23); 46.4% female). Furthermore, we investigated whether moderation by ethnicity (non-Western ethnic minority versus Western ethnic majority [i.e., ethnically Dutch]) or adolescent phase by gender (early adolescent girls versus mid-late adolescent girls versus early adolescent boys versus mid-late adolescent boys) were present. For the total sample, results showed that higher levels of delinquency predicted lower levels of depressive symptoms, consistent with Strain theory that suggests that adolescents may resort to delinquency to cope with depression. As for significant moderation links: (1) higher levels of delinquency predicted lower levels of depressive symptoms (Strain theory), especially in mid-late adolescent girls, (2) higher levels of delinquency predicted higher levels of depressive symptoms (Failure model) for early adolescent girls, and (3) higher levels of depressive symptoms predicted higher levels of delinquency (Acting out model and Strain theory) for mid-late adolescent boys. Although no ethnicity moderation effects were found, consistent with strain theories, ethnic minority adolescents reported significantly more depressive symptoms (T1 and T3) but not higher delinquency levels than ethnic majority adolescents. Thus, the mixed findings found in previous studies for the link between delinquency and depression could be because gender-by-adolescent-phase moderation effects were overlooked. Implications for the Acting out model, Failure model, and Strain theories are discussed.

Maternal socialization of emotion and the development of emotion regulation in early adolescent girls.

Regulation of negative emotions is a core competency of child development. Parental emotion socialization profoundly influences later capacity to regulate negative affect in childhood and adolescence. The present study examined the effects of maternal emotion socialization on the development of emotion regulation in the context of a longitudinal study of 210 mother-daughter dyads. Dyads completed a conflict resolution task when the child was age 11 years during which maternal warmth and hostility were coded. At ages 11 to 13 years, mothers completed self-report measures of supportive and nonsupportive responses to child negative emotion, and children completed self-reports of inhibition and adaptive regulation of sadness and anger. We used latent growth curve modeling to estimate changes in inhibition and adaptive regulation of sadness and anger over time; observed maternal warmth and hostility were included as time-invariant covariates and maternal self-report of supportive and nonsupportive responses were included as time-varying covariates. Observed maternal warmth was positively associated with girls' adaptive regulation of anger and sadness at age 11 years. Maternal self-reported supportive responses to girls' negative affect were positively associated with girls' adaptive regulation of anger, and nonsupportive responses were negatively associated with adaptive regulation of anger and sadness. These findings support the role of maternal emotion socialization and indicate specific effects of maternal warmth and supportive responses in the development of girls' capacity to modulate negative emotions during early adolescence. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Effects of Pubertal Timing and Pubertal Tempo on Social Physique Anxiety, Self-determined Motivation, and Exercise in Early Adolescent Girls

PurposeResearch has shown that there is a decrease in physical activity levels during early adolescence, especially for girls. Previous studies have shown that the social physique anxiety (SPA) may be a controlling factor influencing exercise motivation and engagement in this behavior; however, the potential role that puberty plays in this decrease has not been considered until now. The objective of the present study was to examine the impact of pubertal timing and pubertal tempo on SPA and exercise motivation and behavior. MethodsData from 328 early adolescent girls, aged between 9 and 12 at the time of joining the study, were collected in 3 waves over a 2-year period. Using structural equation modeling techniques, different 3-time-point growth models were estimated to examine if earlier maturing and compressed maturing in girls had differential effects on SPA and exercise motivation and behavior. ResultsThe results from growth analyses suggest that early maturing (according to all the pubertal indicators considered, except menstruation) tends to translate into (1) an increase in SPA levels and (2) a decrease in exercise - in the latter case, by reducing self-determined motivation. However, no differential effects from any of the pubertal indicators were found for compressed maturing in girls. DiscussionThese results highlight the need for increased efforts toward developing programs aimed at helping early maturing girls to cope with the challenges of puberty with a particular focus on SPA experiences and exercise motivation and behavior.

Associations between multi-method latent factors of puberty and brain structure in adolescent girls

Pubertal processes are associated with structural brain development, but studies have produced inconsistent findings that may relate to different measurements of puberty. Measuring both hormones and physical characteristics is important for capturing variation in neurobiological development. The current study explored associations between cortical thickness and latent factors from multi-method pubertal data in 174 early adolescent girls aged 10–13 years in the Transitions in Adolescent Girls (TAG) Study. Our multi-method approach used self-reported physical characteristics and hormone levels (dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), testosterone (T), and estradiol (E2) from saliva) to estimate an overall pubertal factor and for each process of adrenarche and gonadarche. There were negative associations between the overall puberty factor representing later stage and thickness in the posterior cortex, including the occipital cortices and extending laterally to the parietal lobe. However, the multi-method latent factor had weaker cortical associations when examining the adnearcheal process alone, suggesting physical characteristics and hormones capture different aspects of neurobiological development during adrenarche. Controlling for age weakened some of these associations. These findings show that associations between pubertal stage and cortical thickness differ depending on the measurement method and the pubertal process, and both should be considered in future confirmatory studies on the developing brain.

Social Support and Perceptions of COVID-19-related Emotional Impact on Mental Health Among Early Adolescents in Appalachia.

Young people who experience higher levels of social support from their schools and families have been shown to be less likely to develop symptoms of negative mental health outcomes such as depression and anxiety.1-4 This raises questions concerning how young people's stress and psychological changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as social support during this time have affected their overall mental health. The aim of this study was to assess the association between sources of parental- and school-level social support and youth perceptions of COVID-19-related emotional impact on mental health among early adolescent girls and boys in Appalachia. Using linear regression, we analyzed the first and third wave of survey data from the larger parent study (Young Mountaineer Health Study) cohort, collected in 20 middle schools throughout West Virginia in the fall of 2020 and fall of 2021 (N=1349, mean age: 11.5, response rate: 80.7%). Approximately half of participants reported knowing someone that had been sick with COVID-19. Those experiencing higher levels of perceived COVID-19-related emotional impact reported greater levels of depression, anxiety, and anger. Both parental and school-level social support were associated with better mental health outcomes. Early adolescent perceptions of COVID-19-related emotional impact were associated with depression, anxiety, and anger and moderated by social support at home and in school among 11-12-year-old youth in Appalachia.