Poster #209 - The Relation of Pubertal Status to Adolescents’ Sadness and Anger Dysregulation

• In Event: 3-206 - Poster Session 13
  In Poster Session: PS 13 Section - Social, Emotional, Personality

Integrative Statement

Puberty is marked by a time of significant transition in the lives of adolescents with increased sensitivity to social and emotional environments (Broderick & Jennings, 2012). Along with changes in cognitive, biological and emotional functioning, (Quevedo, Benning, Gunnar, & Dahl, 2009), there is an increase in affective disorders, particularly for depression in girls (Costello et al., 2003). There is also an increase in the frequency and intensity of emotional experience and expression that is accompanied by hormonal and neural changes during adolescence (Silk, Steinberg, & Sheffield Morris, 2003). Research has not yet investigated whether difficulties with regulating emotions, particularly with specific types of emotions (i.e., sadness, anger) may be related to stages of puberty. The current study examined whether child gender and stage of puberty (pre/early, mid, late/post) and their interaction predicts sadness dysregulation and anger dysregulation.
Participants were 165 youth (M age = 12 years, 8 months, SD = 0.97, 56% girls, 76% White, middle-class SES) from the mid-Atlantic USA area. Youth completed the Children’s Emotion Management Scales (Zeman, Shipman, & Penza-Clyve, 2001) that provided the Sadness and Anger Dysregulation subscales which evaluate the overt, unregulated display of sadness and anger. Mothers completed the Pubertal Development Scale (Petersen, Crockett, Richards, & Boxer, 1988) that provides information on five stages of puberty. We used three categories: pre and early puberty (31% of sample), mid puberty (34% of sample), and late and post puberty (35% of sample).
Results of regression analyses predicting sadness dysregulation indicated a marginally significant interaction between puberty status and gender, b = -.587, t(163) = -1.88, p = .06. When examined further, the main effect was significant for boys only, b = -.250, t(71) = -2.16, p = .03 (see Figure 1). As boys advance in pubertal status, they tend to dysregulate their sadness less than boys who are in earlier stages of puberty. The regression model predicting anger dysregulation yielded a significant interaction between puberty status and gender, b = -.759, t(163) = -2.26, p = .03. When examined further, the main effect was marginally significant for boys, b = -.434, t(71) = -1.64, p = .10, and approached significance for girls, b = .362, t(91) = 1.57 p = .11 (see Figure 2). As boys progressed through puberty, they expressed their anger in less overt, dysregulated ways with the opposite direction of effects for girls.
These results provide initial evidence that pubertal stage is related to both sadness and anger regulation, particularly for boys. As boys advance through puberty, they report controlling their sadness and anger more than in prior stages. It is important to note that boys may also be reluctant to admit expressing feeling overtly as they get older since these data were based on self-report. Nevertheless, it is important to consider pubertal stage when examining emotion processes.

Authors

• Molly Elizabeth Miller, The College of William & Mary
  Presenting Author

• Daniel McNeil, The College of William & Mary
  Non-Presenting Author

• Sara Franklin-Gillette, William & Mary
  Non-Presenting Author

• Olivia Hazelwood, University of Virginia
  Non-Presenting Author

• Carolyn Clinton, Jamestown High School
  Non-Presenting Author

• Janice Zeman, William & Mary
  Non-Presenting Author