Pubertal Development Moderates the Association Between Hormones and Affect in Ninth Grade Girls

• In Event: 3-212 - Toward Multisystemic Models of Pubertal Timing and Tempo

Integrative Statement

Puberty is notorious for the asynchronous, and sweeping, hormonal, physical, and emotional changes that influence risk and resilience to psychopathology. To date, research examining the relationship between pubertal timing and mental health outcomes has emphasized the association between precocious pubertal development and increased rates of psychopathological symptoms (Stice et al., 2007; Graber et al., 2010; Marceau et al., 2015). Investigations into additional measures of pubertal development, such as Tanner stage, suggest a more complex relationship between puberty and psychopathological risk. One such study, by Oldehinkel et al. in 2010, found that both early and late maturation were associated with symptoms of psychopathology, and that certain Tanner stages were associated with higher risk for incident psychopathology, independent of the timing of pubertal onset (Oldehinkel et al., 2010). Given these mixed findings, and the increasing detail with which we are able to assess the maturational tempo of the myriad developmental processes involved in puberty, more comprehensive analyses that take into account multiple developmental areas of change are necessary to create a clear picture of the populations at risk during puberty.
Preliminary analyses were conducted with a small sample from a larger national study funded by NICHD looking at growth mindset in the transition to high school (Yeager, Beevers, Josephs, Jamieson, & Reis, 2015). Participants were a group of ninth grade girls (N=76). Self-report questionnaires were used to measure fear of negative evaluation (Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents, La Greca, & Lopez, 1998), perceived stress (Perceived Stress Scale, Cohen, Kamarck, & Murmelstein, 1983), and pubertal development (adapted from the Pubertal Development Scale, Petersen, Crockett, Richards, & Boxer 1988). Hormones (Cortisol [C] and Estradiol [E]) were measured from repeated salivary samples taken at the same time of day over the course of multiple days in a one-week period, and were averaged and log transformed for conservative analyses. A three-way interaction model using C, E and self-reported pubertal status (PDS) to predict both Fear of Negative Evaluation and Perceived Stress is presented below.
Figures 1 and 2 display the results of the analysis. In this preliminary sample of ninth grade girls, the combination of high cortisol and high estradiol was associated with higher levels of both Fear of Negative Evaluation and Perceived Stress only in girls who also reported lower levels of pubertal maturation on the PDS. This relationship attenuated in girls who reported higher levels of pubertal maturation. These data suggest that, for girls with a combination of high E and C, the early stages of puberty are psychologically ‘risky’. From a mental health perspective, this suggests a need for an expanded focus to include individuals at any age who are in the early stages of puberty. From a research perspective, this highlights the importance of examining both stress and sex hormones in models of risk for the development of psychopathology. Future analyses are planned to test this model and hypothesis with the larger sample of study participants (N>1000).

Authors

• Julia Chafkin, University of Texas at Austin
  Presenting Author

• Robert A. Josephs, University of Texas at Austin
  Non-Presenting Author

• David S. Yeager, University of Texas at Austin
  Non-Presenting Author