Linking Childhood Maltreatment with Girls' Internalizing Symptoms: Early Puberty as a Tipping Point

Abstract

Early pubertal timing in girls is one of the most frequently replicated antecedents of adolescent emotional distress. Yet understanding the impact of pubertal timing in psychosocial development has presented something of a conundrum for developmentalists, as earlier physical maturation may often be preceded by a range of early adversities and life stressors. The present paper disentangles these associations by investigating childhood maltreatment, adolescent internalizing symptoms, and perceived pubertal timing in girls who were residing in foster care at study entry (N = 100, M = 11.54 years old at Time 1). Girls were assessed at two time points two years apart. There were no significant direct effects of maltreatment on internalizing symptoms; rather, childhood sexual abuse predicted earlier perceived pubertal development at study onset which, in turn, was associated with higher levels of internalizing symptomatology. These higher levels of internalizing symptoms persisted over the two years of the study. This distinctive role for early pubertal timing - even within a sample subject to stressors and risks which far exceed the developmental norm - confirms the unique salience of pubertal timing in emotional adjustment, and suggests that the heightened sexual circumstances of puberty may be especially disturbing for girls whose lives have already been traumatically disrupted by inappropriate and unwanted sexual experiences.

Keywords: child maltreatment; foster care; girls; internalizing symptoms; pubertal timing.

Figures

Figure 1

Hypothesized model of pubertal timing, childhood maltreatment, and internalizing symptoms. Note: Covariates and correlations among maltreatment variables were included in model butare not depicted. Sexual abuse, physical abuse, and neglect represent number of reported events for each type of maltreatment. Scores on Pubertal Development Scale expressed as a deviation from the average score reported for children of the same chronological age, to indicate pubertal timing. *p < .05