A meta-analytic review of the association between pubertal timing and psychopathology in adolescence: are there sex differences in risk?
Abstract
Research examining pubertal timing effects on psychopathology has emphasized that a subset of adolescents, particularly females, who experience early pubertal maturation relative to their peers appear to be at increased risk for psychopathology. The aims of the current meta-analysis were (a) to quantify the magnitude of early pubertal timing effects on psychopathology, (b) to examine potential moderators of pubertal timing effects (sex, psychopathology domain, sample composition, measurement method, and mean sample age), and (c) to examine findings in relation to hypotheses in the extant literature explicating differential pubertal timing effects for early versus late youth and males versus females. A systematic literature search was conducted in PubMed and PsycINFO databases and 101 articles met criteria for inclusion. Included studies reported a quantitative association between pubertal timing and higher-order broadband dimensions of psychopathology (i.e., internalizing, externalizing), and/or lower-order subdomains (i.e., distress, fear, antisocial behavior, substance abuse, eating pathology). Using meta-analytic methods, we estimated global effect sizes (Cohen's ds) for the association between pubertal timing and psychopathology. Adolescent sex did not moderate early pubertal timing effects on emotional and behavior problems. However, robust early pubertal timing effects emerged for both males and females across all domains of psychopathology that were small in magnitude…
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Early pubertal timing has been implicated in the development of psychopathology owing to the risk conferred on adolescents whose physical appearance outpaces their psychological, cognitive, and social maturity.
“Early pubertal timing has been implicated in the development of psychopathology owing to the risk conferred on adolescents whose physical appearance outpaces their psychological, cognitive, and social maturity.”
From Child Sexual Abuse as a Unique Risk Factor for the Development of Psychopathology: The Compounded Convergence of Mechanisms (2021) · cites this paper as Ullsperger & Nikolas 2017
The increase in sex hormones at puberty plays a role in brain development, social outcomes, and mental health.
“Evidence suggests that the increase in sex hormones at puberty plays a role in brain development, 114-117 social outcomes, 118 and mental health. 119-121”
From The Lancet Psychiatry Commission on youth mental health (2024) · cites this paper as [121]
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- Authors
- Ullsperger, J. M., & Nikolas, M. A.
- Affiliations
- University of Iowa (US)
- ORCID
- Nikolas, Molly A.
- Venue
- Psychological Bulletin
- Published
- 2017-09
- Volume
- 143
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 903-938
- ISSN
- 0033-2909 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1455
- OpenAlex
- W2618930691
- Cited by
- 293
- References
- 22
- Citations by year
- 2026: 37 · 2025: 52 · 2024: 48 · 2023: 44 · 2022: 32 · 2021: 23 · 2020: 28 · 2019: 16 · 2018: 12
- FWCI
- 18.99
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychological Bulletin (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Reproductive Medicine › Hypothalamic control of reproductive hormones
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychology and Mental Health
- Keywords
- pubertal timing, early maturation, adolescent psychopathology, sex differences, internalizing problems, externalizing problems, antisocial behavior, substance abuse, eating pathology
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Mental Disorders, Female, Humans, Male, Puberty, Sex Characteristics
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