title: Early menarche and risk-taking behavior in Korean adolescent students.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of this study is to assess the correlation between early menarche and risk-taking behavior in a representative sample of Korean adolescent students.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were drawn from a cross-sectional, nationally representative sample of 33 829 female adolescents (grades 7-12) from the 2014 Korean Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to test the association between early menarche and risk-taking behavior.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Female adolescents who experienced menarche at an earlier age tended to have an earlier initiation of sexual intercourse (odds ratio [OR] 4.61, 95% CI, 3.05-6.98, P = .001), smoking (OR 4.29, 95% CI, 3.75-4.9, P < .001), alcohol drinking (OR 1.13, 95% CI, 1.02-1.24, P < .001), and substance use (OR 25.16, 95% CI, 18.78-33.72, P < .001). These adolescents were also at greater risk of pregnancy (OR 4.05, 95% CI, 2.56-6.41, P = .01) and sexually transmitted diseases (OR 2.35, 95% CI, 1.66-3.33, P < .001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Early menarche is significantly associated with risk-taking behavior in Korean adolescent students. This finding suggests that early educational intervention and social programs are needed for female adolescents with early menarche.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Dong-A University, Busan, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hyun Soo
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Dong-A University, Busan, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Byeong Moo
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Choe
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Dong-A University, Busan, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jae Hong
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Dong-A University, Busan, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Seong Hwan
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008572:Menarche / Q000523:psychology*; D056910:Republic of Korea; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: adolescent; alcohol; menarche; risk-taking; sexual intercourse