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Pubertal maturation and affective symptoms in adolescence and adulthood: Evidence from a prospective birth cohort

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Darya Gaysina ,
Marcus Richards ,
Diana Kuh  and
Rebecca Hardy
Darya Gaysina*
Affiliation:
University of Sussex, Brighton
Marcus Richards
Affiliation:
University College London
Diana Kuh
Affiliation:
University College London
Rebecca Hardy
Affiliation:
University College London
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Darya Gaysina, Rudd Centre for Adoption Research and Practice, School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QH, UK; E-mail: D.Gaysina@sussex.ac.uk.
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Abstract

The higher prevalence of affective symptoms among women compared to men emerges in adolescence, and it has been associated with pubertal maturation. However, it remains unclear whether pubertal timing has long-term influences on affective symptoms. Using data from the British 1946 birth cohort, we investigated whether pubertal timing was associated with affective symptoms over the life course, distinguishing those with symptoms in adolescence only, symptoms in adulthood only, and symptoms in both adolescence and adulthood. In females, there was no evidence that early pubertal maturation was a risk factor for affective symptoms. However, those with particularly late menarche (≥15 years) showed a lower risk of adult-onset affective symptoms (odds ratio = 0.54, 95% confidence interval = 0.31, 0.95). This effect of late pubertal timing was not explained by a range of sociobehavioral factors. In contrast, in males, late pubertal timing was associated with increased risk of adolescent-onset affective symptoms that tracked into adulthood (odds ratio = 2.10, 95% confidence interval = 1.44, 3.06). This effect was partly explained by low prepubertal body mass index. Sex-specific effects of pubertal timing on the long-term risk of affective symptoms might be due to different effects of gonadal hormonal on the central nervous system, as well as different social experiences during puberty.

Type
Regular Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 27 , Issue 4pt1 , November 2015 , pp. 1331 - 1340
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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