The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, USA.
J Youth Adolesc. 2012 Sep;41(9):1111-26. doi: 10.1007/s10964-012-9762-y. Epub 2012 Apr 3.
The literature consistently shows an association between pubertal maturation and internalizing problems in girls. The association for boys is less clear. The present study examines genetic and environmental influences on the association between pubertal maturation and internalizing problems for boys and girls in two primarily Caucasian adolescent twin/sibling studies: The Swedish Twin study of CHild and Adolescent Development (706 same-sex twin pairs aged 13-14, M = 13.7 years, 50 % female), and the Nonshared Environment in Adolescent Development sample (US-based, 687 same-sex twin/sibling pairs aged 10-18, M = 13.6 years, 47 % female). For girls, more advanced pubertal maturation was associated modestly with more internalizing problems, and that association was entirely explained by shared environmental influences. For boys, the association between pubertal maturation and internalizing problems was weak and inconsistent. Results for girls were remarkably consistent across samples. Findings suggest that nongenetic mechanisms mediate the association between pubertal maturation and internalizing problems. Findings have implications for intervention such that environmental influences shared by twins/siblings may provide the best targets for intervention strategies designed to minimize the potential negative effects of pubertal maturation on internalizing symptoms in girls.
文献一致表明青春期成熟与女孩的内化问题之间存在关联。男孩的关联则不太明确。本研究在两个主要为白种人青少年双胞胎/兄弟姐妹研究中，考察了遗传和环境因素对青春期成熟与男孩和女孩内化问题之间关联的影响：瑞典儿童和青少年发展双胞胎研究（706 对同性别双胞胎，年龄 13-14 岁，平均年龄 13.7 岁，女性占 50%）和青少年发展非共享环境样本（基于美国，687 对同性别双胞胎/兄弟姐妹，年龄 10-18 岁，平均年龄 13.6 岁，女性占 47%）。对于女孩，青春期成熟度越高，内化问题越严重，这种关联完全是由共享环境因素解释的。对于男孩，青春期成熟度与内化问题之间的关联较弱且不一致。女孩的结果在两个样本中非常一致。研究结果表明，非遗传机制介导了青春期成熟与内化问题之间的关联。研究结果对干预措施具有启示意义，即双胞胎/兄弟姐妹之间共享的环境影响可能是干预策略的最佳目标，这些策略旨在最小化青春期成熟对女孩内化症状的潜在负面影响。
