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Associations Between Early Life Stress, Child Maltreatment, and Pubertal Development Among Girls in Foster Care
Author(s) -
Mendle Jane,
Leve Leslie D.,
Van Ryzin Mark,
Natsuaki Misaki N.,
Ge Xiaojia
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of research on adolescence
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.342
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1532-7795
pISSN - 1050-8392
DOI - 10.1111/j.1532-7795.2011.00746.x
Subject(s) - menarche , psychology , sexual abuse , developmental psychology , child abuse , clinical psychology , association (psychology) , early childhood , injury prevention , poison control , demography , medicine , environmental health , sociology , psychotherapist
The present study investigated pubertal development in girls with maltreatment histories ( N =100), assessed at 4 time points over 2 years, beginning in the spring of their final year of elementary school. This sample is unique in that participants were subject to an unusual level of environmental risk early in life and resided in foster care at the start of the study. Analyses replicated the previously established association between sexual abuse and earlier onset of maturation and earlier age at menarche. Physical abuse was related to a more rapid tempo of pubertal development across the period assessed. These results strengthen previous investigations of childhood maltreatment and puberty, highlighting the complexity and specificity of early life experiences for later development.