Meta-Analysis of Gender Differences in Pubertal Timing and Status Relations with Body Image and Self-Esteem

• In Event: Poster Session 12
  In Poster Session: PS 12 Topic - Sex, Gender

Abstract

Poor body image and low self-esteem can have implications for adverse psychopathological outcomes throughout the lifespan (O’Dea, 2012). Existing research shows that shifts in body image and self-esteem coincide with puberty as adolescents reconcile their biological development with societal attractiveness ideals for each gender (Stice, 2003), although research on the exact nature of these relations is mixed (Duncan, Ritter, Dornbusch, Gross, & Carlsmith, 1985; Williams & Currie, 2000). The maturational disparity hypothesis suggests that both boys and girls who experience earlier puberty will experience poorer outcomes, while the gendered deviation hypothesis suggests that it is early-maturing girls and late-maturing boys at risk. This study attempts to address that gap in the literature by using meta-analysis to determine the potential for gender differences in the directionality and strength of the relations between pubertal timing, pubertal status, body image, and self-esteem.

This data comes from a completed larger meta-analysis on puberty and health outcomes. In the overall study, abstracts from both published and unpublished works between 1995 and 2015 were screened from 6 databases, including PsycInfo and ERIC. For inclusion in this analysis, studies needed to be in English, include usable original data on human participants, include a measure of puberty, include a measure of either self-esteem or body image, and have separate effect sizes by gender.

Concerning pubertal timing, 26 correlations (expressed as Pearson's r) between pubertal timing and body image (n= 8667, 9.0% male) were found, and significant overall effects of +.07 (CIs: +.04, +.10) for females and -.10 (CIs: -.17, -.03) for males (p’s < .01) were calculated. These suggest that early pubertal timing is related to worse and better body image outcomes for females and males, respectively. In contrast, for the 19 correlations between pubertal timing and self-esteem (n= 3681, 7.9% male) found, the overall effects were non-significant for both genders (p’s > .05).

Concerning pubertal status, 29 correlations between pubertal status and body image (n= 8562, 23.80% male) and 21 effect sizes between pubertal status and self-esteem (n= 6269, 32.30% male) were found. For females, a significant overall effect of +.17 (CIs: .+09, +.24) was found for the relation between pubertal status and body image and +.11 (CIs: +.07, +.15) for the relation between pubertal status and self-esteem (p’s < .01). These suggest that females with more advanced pubertal status have lower body-image and lower self-esteem. There were no significant overall effects between pubertal status and either body image or self-esteem for males (p’s > .05).

These results suggest that early pubertal timing and more advanced pubertal status relate to negative outcomes for girls and advocate for more research on the social experiences of adolescent girls. The lack of consistent results for boys suggests that the effects of puberty on body image and self-esteem for boys may be less linear, but more research is required. In the future, both in meta-analyses and original studies, these relations should be further examined for groups that are underrepresented in puberty research, such as low-SES adolescents, racial and ethnic minorities and LGBTQ+ adolescents.

Authors

• Abigail Grace Richburg, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
  Presenting Author

• Dominic Kelly, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
  Non-Presenting Author

• Anna Olson, University of Michigan
  Non-Presenting Author

• Sarah Chung, University of Michigan
  Non-Presenting Author

• Madeline Swerdlow, University of Michigan
  Non-Presenting Author

• Pamela Davis-Kean, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
  Non-Presenting Author