Early Menarche: Is it a Risk Factor for Depression, Substance Abuse, and Eating Disorders?

1. Early Menarche: Is it a Risk Factor for Depression, Substance Abuse, and Eating Disorders? Facilitator: Ann Hung, Mental Health Board Intern June 8th, 2011

2. Agenda 1. Early puberty 2. Biological, environmental, and nutritional aspects 3. Stress hypotheses 4. Negative psychosocial outcomes: • Depression • Substance Use • Eating Pathology 5. Limitations of research and implications for clinical practice

4. Puberty • Are girls developing earlier than before? • (Herman-Giddens et al., 1997; Walvoord, 2010) • Pubarche, thelarche & menarche • Ethnic differences in onset of puberty • (Obeidallah et al., 2000; Chumlea et al., 2003)

5. Biological and Environmental Antecedents • Biological • genes (Brooks-Gunn & Warren, 1988) • Environmental • poverty • father absence (Surbey, 1990; Deardorff et al., 2011) • family conflict • Nutrition and Obesity (Kaplowitz et al., 2001; Davidson et al., 2003)

6. Stress Hypotheses(Caspi & Moffitt, 1991) 1. Stressful Change 2. Off-time 3. Early-Timing

7. Caspi & Moffitt, 1991

8. Depression • Theoretical Underpinnings • physical changes • hormonal changes • Comorbidity with other disorders (Patton et al., 1996; Hayward et al., 1996; Graber et al., 2004) • Results among racial minorities • (Hayward et al., 1999) • (Ge et al., 2003)

9. Eating Pathology • Two central mechanisms (Stice & Shaw, 2002) • dieting • negative affect • Mixed findings re. early menarche on eating pathology • Other factors leading to eating disorders

10. Precursors and Consequences of Body Dissatisfaction

11. Substance Use • Early maturers → increased risk of substance use (Dick et al., 2000) • Association of girls with older peers (Magnusson et al., 1986; Moffitt et al., 2001) • Means for self-medication • Racial Differences • cigarette use (Negriff et al., 2010)

12. Limitations of Current Literature • Lack of follow-up reports • Retrospective data • Measurement criterion • Dearth of racially diverse samples

13. Implications for Clinical Practice • Spending more time on body dissatisfaction • sociocultural ideals of thinness • critical consumers of mass media • Intervention programs targeted during the most developmentally challenging and stress inducing times • Informational programs for parents • 5th vital sign

14. References • Belsky, J., Steinberg, L., & Draper, P. (1991). Childhood experience, interpersonal development and reproductive strategy: An evolutionary theory of socialization. Child Development, 62, 647-670. • Brooks-Gunn, J., & Warren, M. P. (1989). Biological and social contributions to negative affect in young adolescent girls. Child Development, 60, 40-55. • Caspi, A., & Moffitt, T. E. (1991). Individual differences are accentuated during periods of social change: The sample case of girls at puberty. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Vol 61(1), 61, 157-168. • Chumlea, W. C., Schubert, C. M., Roche, A. F., Kulin, H. E., Lee, P. A., Himes, J. H., & Sun, S. S. (2003). Age at Menarche and Racial Comparisons in US Girls. Pediatrics, 111(1), 110 -113. doi:10.1542/peds.111.1.110 • Deardorff, J., Ekwaru, J. P., Kushi, L. H., Ellis, B. J., Greenspan, L. C., Mirabedi, A., Landaverde, E. G., et al. (2011). Father Absence, Body Mass Index, and Pubertal Timing in Girls: Differential Effects by Family Income and Ethnicity. Journal of Adolescent Health, 48(5), 441-447. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2010.07.032 • Dick, D. M., Rose, R. J., Viken, R. J., & Kaprio, J. (2000). Pubertal timing and substance use: Associations between and within families across late adolescence. Developmental Psychology. Vol 36(2), 36, 180-189. • Ge, X., Kim, I. J., Brody, G., Conger, R. D., & Simons, R. L., (2003). It's about timing and change: Pubertal transition effects on symptoms of major depression among African American youths. Developmental Psychology, 39, 430-439. • Graber, J. A., Seeley, J. R., Brooks-Gunn, J., & Lewinsohn, P. M. (2004). Is pubertal timing associated with psychopathology in young adulthood? Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 43, 718-726. • Hayward, C., Gotlib, I. H., Schraedley, P. K., & Litt, I. F. (1999). Ethnic differences in the association between pubertal status and symptoms of depression in adolescent girls. Journal of Adolescent Health, 25(2), 143-149. doi:10.1016/S1054-139X(99)00048-8

15. References cont. • Herman-Giddens, M. E., Wasserman, R. C., Bourdony, C. J., Bhapkar, M. V., Koch, G. G., & Hasemeier, C. M. (1997). Secondary sexual characteristics and menses in young girls seen in office practice: A study from the pediatric research in office settings network. Pediatrics, 4, 505-512. • Kaplowitz, P. B., Slora, E. J., Wasserman, R. C., Pedlow, S. E., & Herman-Giddens, M. E. (2001). Earlier onset of puberty in girls: Relation to increased body mass index and race. Pediatrics, 108(2), 347-353. • Magnusson, D., Stattin, H., & Allen, V. L. (1986). Biological maturation and social development: A longitudinal study of some adjustment processes from midadolescence to adulthood. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 14, 267-283. • Negriff, S., Dorn, L. D., & Huang, B. (2010). Pubertal timing and smoking initiation in adolescent females: Differences by race. Nicotine & Tobacco Research. Vol 12(7), 12, 748-755. • Obeidallah, D. A., Brennan, R. T., Brooks-Gunn, J., Kindlon, D., & Earls, F. (2000). Socioeconomic Status, Race, and Girls’ Pubertal Maturation: Results From the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 10(4), 443. doi:10.1207/SJRA1004_04 • Stice, E., & Shaw, H. E. (2002). Role of body dissatisfaction in the onset and maintenance of eating pathology: A synthesis of research findings. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 53(5), 985-993. doi:16/S0022-3999(02)00488-9 • Walvoord, E. C. (2010). The timing of puberty: Is it changing? Does it matter? Journal of Adolescent Health. Vol 47(5), 47, 433-439.