Centre For Fertility and Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway; Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
Centre For Fertility and Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.
J Adolesc Health. 2021 Sep;69(3):503-510. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2021.02.001. Epub 2021 Mar 29.
On average, boys have lower academic achievement than girls. We investigated whether the timing of puberty is associated with academic achievement, and whether later puberty among boys contributes to the sex difference in academic achievement.
Examination scores at age 16 were studied among 13,477 British twins participating in the population-based Twins Early Development Study. A pubertal development scale, a height-based proxy of growth spurt, and age at menarche were used as indicators of puberty. Associations between puberty, sex, and academic achievement were estimated in phenotypic mediation models and biometric twin models.
Earlier puberty was associated with higher academic achievement both in boys and girls. The exception was early age at menarche in girls, which associated with lower academic achievement. More than half of the sex differences in academic achievement could be linked to sex differences in pubertal development, but part of this association appeared to be rooted in prepubertal differences. The biometric twin modelling indicated that the association between puberty and academic achievement was due to shared genetic risk factors. Genetic influences on pubertal development accounted for 7%-8% of the phenotypic variation in academic achievement.
Pubertal maturation relates to the examination scores of boys and of girls. This can give genes related to pubertal maturation an influence on outcomes in education and beyond. Sex differences in pubertal maturation can explain parts of the sex difference in academic achievement. Grading students when they are immature may not accurately measure their academic potential.
平均而言，男孩的学业成绩低于女孩。我们研究了青春期开始的时间是否与学业成绩有关，以及男孩青春期开始较晚是否导致了学业成绩的性别差异。
研究了参加基于人群的双胞胎早期发展研究的 13477 对英国双胞胎在 16 岁时的考试成绩。使用青春期发育量表、基于身高的生长突增指标和初潮年龄作为青春期的指标。在表型中介模型和双生子生物计量模型中估计了青春期、性别与学业成绩之间的关系。
男孩和女孩的青春期早期与较高的学业成绩相关。女孩的初潮年龄较早是例外，与较低的学业成绩相关。学业成绩的性别差异中，有一半以上可以归因于青春期发育的性别差异，但部分关联似乎源于青春期前的差异。双生子生物计量模型表明，青春期与学业成绩之间的关联是由于共同的遗传风险因素所致。青春期发育的遗传影响占学业成绩表型变异的 7%-8%。
青春期成熟与男孩和女孩的考试成绩有关。这使得与青春期成熟相关的基因对教育和其他领域的结果产生影响。青春期成熟的性别差异可以解释学业成绩性别差异的一部分。在学生不成熟时对他们进行评分可能无法准确衡量他们的学业潜力。
