title: Psychiatric risk associated with early puberty in adolescent girls.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study prospectively evaluated the relationship between early puberty and the onset of internalizing symptoms and disorders in adolescent girls.
  
  
  METHODS
  The sample was drawn from 1,463 sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade girls who participated in a longitudinal school-based study of growth and development. Pubertal stage was determined by self-assessment of Tanner stage. Psychiatric assessments included self-report instruments and structured diagnostic interviews. Survival methods were utilized for data analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Girls with onset of internalizing symptoms were on average 5 months earlier in pubertal development than those who were asymptomatic (p < .001). In addition, girls with earlier maturation (earliest quartile) were more likely to develop internalizing symptoms than were nonearly matures (hazard ratio = 1.8, confidence interval = 1.2, 2.7). In a subsample of girls followed into high school, early-maturing girls were at marginally higher risk (p < .10) for developing internalizing disorders by the study's end. The highest risk for internalizing disorders was for those girls with both early puberty and prior internalizing symptoms (odds ratio = 3.3).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Early puberty increases the risk of internalizing symptoms and perhaps internalizing disorders in adolescent girls.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, CA 94305-5542, USA.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hayward
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Killen
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: L D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Hammer
authors.forename: I F
authors.initials: IF
authors.lastname: Litt
authors.forename: H C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Kraemer
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Haydel
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Varady
authors.forename: C B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Taylor
mesh_terms: D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D009497:Neurotic Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011629:Puberty, Precocious / Q000150:complications*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012494:Sampling Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis