Department of Human Development, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
Dev Psychol. 2012 Mar;48(2):429-35. doi: 10.1037/a0026425. Epub 2011 Nov 21.
The physical changes of puberty coincide with an increase in the salience of peer relationships and a growing risk for depression and other forms of psychopathology. Previously, we reported that pubertal tempo, defined as a child's rate of intraindividual change in pubertal status (measured using parent-reported Tanner stages; Marshall & Tanner, 1970), was associated with changes in boys'--but not girls'--depressive symptoms over and above effects explained by pubertal timing (Mendle, Harden, Brooks-Gunn, & Graber, 2010). The present study extends this previous research by examining changes in the quality of peer relationships in the association between individual differences in pubertal development and change in boys' depressive symptoms. Boys (N = 128, M = 9.61 years, SD = 0.70, at Time 1) were recruited from public schools and assessed annually for 4 years. Results from latent growth curve models indicated that earlier pubertal timing and more rapid pubertal tempo were associated with greater decrements in the quality of boys' peer relationships. After accounting for the association between change in peer relationships and depressive symptoms, the direct effects of pubertal timing and tempo on depressive symptoms were no longer significant. These results highlight a multifaceted approach to studying puberty and emphasize how social mechanisms may intersect with biological risk to produce psychological distress.
青春期的身体变化与同伴关系的凸显以及抑郁和其他形式的精神病理学风险的增加同时发生。此前，我们报告称，青春期时相（定义为儿童个体在青春期状态变化的速度，使用父母报告的坦纳阶段来衡量；Marshall & Tanner, 1970）与男孩的抑郁症状变化有关，而与青春期时间的影响无关（Mendle, Harden, Brooks-Gunn, & Graber, 2010）。本研究通过检查青春期发育个体差异与男孩抑郁症状变化之间的同伴关系质量变化，扩展了先前的研究。从公立学校招募了 128 名男孩（N = 128，M = 9.61 岁，SD = 0.70，在第 1 次测量时），并在 4 年内每年进行评估。潜在增长曲线模型的结果表明，较早的青春期时间和更快的青春期时相与男孩同伴关系质量的更大下降有关。在考虑到同伴关系变化与抑郁症状之间的关联后，青春期时间和时相对抑郁症状的直接影响不再显著。这些结果突出了一种多方面的研究青春期的方法，并强调了社会机制如何与生物风险相交织，从而产生心理困扰。
