title: Pubertal timing and early sexual intercourse in the offspring of teenage mothers.
abstract: Early puberty is associated with stressful family environments, early sexual intercourse, and teenage pregnancy. We examined pubertal timing and sexual debut among the 14-year-old offspring of teenage mothers. Mothers (71% Black, 29% White) were recruited as pregnant teenagers (12-18 years old). Data were collected during pregnancy and when offspring were 6, 10 and 14 years old (n = 318). Adolescents (50% male) compared the timing of their pubertal maturation to same-sex peers. There was a significant 3-way interaction effect of race, sex, and pubertal timing on sexual debut (n = 305). This effect remained significant in a model controlling for maternal age at first intercourse, substance use, exposure to trauma, authoritative parenting, and peer sexual activity (n = 255). Early maturation was associated with early sex in daughters, and may be one pathway for the inter-generational transfer of risk for teenage pregnancy among daughters of teenage mothers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Program in Epidemiology, Suite 138, Webster Hall, 4415 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA. degennan@pitt.edu
authors.forename: Natacha M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: De Genna
authors.forename: Cynthia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Larkby
authors.forename: Marie D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Cornelius
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000208:ethnology / Q000502:physiology; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D003075:Coitus; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D016487:Parenting; D010379:Peer Group; D011247:Pregnancy; D011253:Pregnancy in Adolescence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011627:Puberty / Q000523:psychology; D057566:Self Report; D012737:Sex Factors; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000208:ethnology / Q000502:physiology; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology