1-031 - Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Puberty and Well-Being

Session Type: Paper Discussion Symposium

Integrative Statement

Because puberty integrates biological, social, emotional, and cognitive change, an integrative approach to research on this topic is needed but not often utilized. The three papers in this symposium each provide an interdisciplinary perspective on associations of puberty with emotional well-being, combining developmental psychology with theoretical and conceptual ideas drawn from other disciplines. By integrating insights from diverse fields, this symposium promises to open new and innovative avenues of research on puberty and psychological health.

The first paper emphasizes the need to consider intersectionality when evaluating associations of puberty and psychological health. By considering how racial identity moderates the psychological experience of puberty, this work demonstrates that common research findings on early pubertal timing are not universally applicable. In particular, high levels of racial centrality and public regard were more strongly related to depressive symptoms among Black girls with late pubertal timing relative to girls with early pubertal timing. Paper 2 draws on new insights from clinical science that have yet to be widely assimilated into developmental research, examining links between depression, puberty, and four different transdiagnostic processes. Finally, Paper 3 prioritizes the integration of psychology with biology and genetically informed research methods. This paper is distinct in its consideration of very specific biological changes at puberty – and particularly how different biological changes may convey different psychological experiences and emotional risk. Our discussant -- a well-known puberty scholar -- will describe how understanding of this complex, multi-faceted transition may be expanded through integrating different disciplinary perspectives into developmental science.

Sub Unit

• Developmental Psychopathology

Chair

• Rona Carter, University of Michigan

Individual Presentations

• Late to the Party: Pubertal timing, Racial Identity, and Depressive Symptoms among African American Girls - Presenting Author: Rona Carter, University of Michigan; Eleanor K Seaton, Arizona State University

• Pubertal Status, Pubertal Timing and Transdiagnostic Processes - Presenting Author: Jane Mendle, Cornell University; Kirsten McKone, Cornell University; Taylor C McGuire, Cornell University; Kathleen McCormick, Cornell University

• On the cusp of puberty: The emergence of acne and risks for internalizing psychopathology from an adoption design - Presenting Author: Danielle Samuels, University of California, Riverside; Misaki N. Natsuaki, University of California, Riverside; Jenae M Neiderhiser, Penn State University; Daniel Shaw, Univ; David Reiss, Yale University; Jody Ganiban, George Washington University; Leslie Leve, University of Oregon

Discussant

• Julianna Deardorff, University of California, Berkeley