Peer-reviewed article
Longitudinal Associations of Pubertal Timing and Tempo With Adolescent Mental Health and Risk Behavior Initiation in Urban South Africa
Alysse J. Kowalski, O. Yaw Addo, Michael R. Kramer, Reynaldo Martorell, Shane Anthony Norris et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study followed 1,784 urban South African adolescents to understand how the timing and speed of puberty relates to mental health and risky behaviors. Adolescents who went through puberty earlier and faster showed more behavioral problems, emotional difficulties, and were more likely to start risky health behaviors like substance use and unsafe sexual activity. Girls who developed faster also showed more dieting behaviors, while boys showed more aggression and rule-breaking. Slower pubertal development appeared to be somewhat protective.
Key points
- Earlier and faster pubertal development was associated with 5.7 times higher odds of high-risk behavior patterns in males and 3.45 times higher in females
- In males, early fast puberty linked to increased externalizing problems and oppositional defiant behavior in early and midadolescence
- In females, early fast puberty associated with increased internalizing and externalizing problems in midadolescence and increased dieting behaviors across adolescence
- Later and slower pubertal timing was somewhat protective against mental health and behavioral problems
- Findings in this lower-income urban setting align with patterns previously documented in high-income countries
Limitations
The study is observational and cannot establish causation, only associations between pubertal timing and later outcomes. The cohort is specific to urban black South Africans and may not represent rural populations or other ethnic groups.
Abstract
PURPOSE: In high-income countries, early and rapid pubertal development is consistently associated with poor adjustment and increased risk behavior in adolescence. This study contributes to the meager knowledge of these associations in lower income countries. METHODS: We used longitudinal data from 1,784 urban black South Africans in the Birth to Twenty Plus cohort. We used regression analyses to assess associations between age at menarche and latent classes of pubertal timing and tempo and adolescent internalizing and externalizing emotional and behavioral problems, eating attitudes, and patterns of health risk behavior initiation. RESULTS: Relatively earlier and faster pubertal timing and tempo were associated with increased health risk behavior initiation (e.g., adjusted odds ratio [95% confidence interval] high- vs. low-risk pattern = 5.7 [1.7, 19.06] for male genital development; adjusted odds ratio = 3.45 [1.13, 10.49] for female breast development). Among males, earlier and faster pubertal timing and tempo were associated with increased externalizing problems in early adolescence and increased oppositional defiant problems in midadolescence, whereas later and slower pubertal timing and tempo were associated with decreases. Among females, earlier and faster pubertal timing and tempo were associated with increased internalizing and externalizing problems in midadolescence and increased dieting behaviors in early and late adolescence (β [95% confidence interval] = 2.51 [.87, 4.15] for pubic hair development), whereas later and slower pubertal timing and tempo were associated with decreases. CONCLUSIONS: In this urban South African cohort, relatively earlier and faster pubertal development was detrimental to mental health and risk behavior activity, whereas later and slower maturation was somewhat protective.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Longitudinal observation and measurement of pubertal timing and tempo in relation to mental health and risk behavior initiation
- Population
- 1,784 urban black South African adolescents from the Birth to Twenty Plus cohort
Key finding
Early and fast male genital development: adjusted odds ratio 5.7 [1.7, 19.06] for high- vs. low-risk health behavior pattern
Kowalski et al. · Prof. Linda Richter (OpenAlex works) · 12 Jan 2021