title: Early menarche and psychopathological symptoms in young Chinese women.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the psychopathological symptoms, suicide, and self-harming behaviors among students with early, on-time, and late menarche in high school and college and the association of early menarche with these disorders.
  
  
  METHODS
  The design consisted of a cross-sectional study of 5597 high school students and 2768 college students. Menarche age, suboptimal mental health status, anxiety, depression, suicide, and self-harming behaviors were obtained by self-report questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In high school students, all the disorders occurred at significantly higher frequency in those with early menarche than in those with on-time and late menarche. In college students, only suboptimal mental health status, depression, and suicidal ideation happened at significantly higher frequency in the early menarche group than in the other two groups. The college group had a lower frequency of all the disorders than the high school group for all three groups of girls, that is, with early, on-time, or late menarche. In a multivariate logistic regression model, early menarche persisted as a risk factor for all the disorders after other factors were controlled.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Psychopathological symptoms, suicide, and self-harming behaviors are more common in early menarche students than in on-time and late menarche students. The effects of early menarche on the disorders might dissipate over time. Early menarche might serve as a predictor for the disorders in Chinese girls.
authors.affiliation: Department of Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.forename: Fang-Biao
authors.initials: FB
authors.lastname: Tao
authors.forename: Yu-Hui
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Wan
authors.forename: Jia-Hu
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Hao
authors.forename: Pu-Yu
authors.initials: PY
authors.lastname: Su
authors.forename: Yun-Xia
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Cao
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001007:Anxiety / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008572:Menarche; D008603:Mental Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016728:Self-Injurious Behavior / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016387:Women's Health; D055815:Young Adult