3-212 - Toward Multisystemic Models of Pubertal Timing and Tempo

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Puberty represents a transition into reproductive maturity characterized by a confluence of endocrine, physical, and psychological changes. Research consistently emphasizes two facets of this developmental window: timing, or the onset of the maturation process, and tempo, or the rate at which an individual progresses toward reproductive maturity. Historically, measurement of puberty has suffered from limitations such as retrospective reporting, linear modeling, and use of single indicators. Despite recent advancements in pubertal measurement, there remains a need for research that captures the complex, multisystemic processes that constitute puberty. The current symposium includes presentations aimed at characterizing the timing and tempo of pubertal development “outside” and “inside the skin”. The first presentation uses nonlinear logistic growth curves to explore differences in timing and tempo across multiple physical traits in a population-representative sample of children and adolescents. The second presentation capitalizes on multimethod hormonal measurements to investigate how basal hormones in saliva and cumulative hormone levels in hair change across development in a longitudinal sample of adolescents. The third presentation investigates the complex interplay of stress hormones, sex hormones, and pubertal stage in the development of psychopathology in adolescents. Finally, the discussion focuses on how measuring change in both physical and hormonal indicators of pubertal development can be leveraged to better understand the contribution of timing and tempo to psychological outcomes in adolescence. Together, these presentations build on trends in developmental research toward more proximal measurement and modeling of puberty.

Sub Unit

• Biological Processes: Psychophysiology

Chair

• James Madole, University of Texas at Austin

Discussant

• Jane Mendle, Cornell University

Individual Presentations

• Pubertal Timing and Tempo: A Multiple Indicator Approach - Presenting Author: James Madole, University of Texas at Austin; Non-Presenting Author: Elliot M. Tucker-Drob, University of Texas at Austin; Non-Presenting Author: Kathryn Paige Harden, University of Texas at Austin

• Pubertal maturation inside the skin: Sex-specific changes in gonadal hormones in saliva and hair - Presenting Author: Megan Patterson, University of Texas at Austin; Non-Presenting Author: Andrew Grotzinger, University of Texas at Austin; Non-Presenting Author: James Madole, University of Texas at Austin; Non-Presenting Author: Elliot M. Tucker-Drob, University of Texas at Austin; Non-Presenting Author: Kathryn Paige Harden, University of Texas at Austin

• Pubertal Development Moderates the Association Between Hormones and Affect in Ninth Grade Girls - Presenting Author: Julia Chafkin, University of Texas at Austin; Non-Presenting Author: Robert A. Josephs, University of Texas at Austin; Non-Presenting Author: David S. Yeager, University of Texas at Austin