Theory and research highlight the mismatch between puberty-associated challenges and personal coping resources among youth with early actual or perceived pubertal timing. This study (N = 167; M[subscript age] = 12.41 years; 51.5% female; 77.8% White American) examined whether coping resources provided by mothers (maternal socialization of coping)…

The present study tested the developmental links between maternal closeness and support and measures of depression and anxiety symptoms, and whether these links were conditioned by pubertal status. It was hypothesized that pubertal status (early) would potentiate the negative links (stronger relationships) between maternal positive parenting and…

Based on the "Differential Susceptibility Theory," we examined whether the relationship between pubertal maturation and depressive symptoms can be moderated by individual differences in environmental sensitivity. The current article used the three-wave data collected from Japanese adolescents aged from 12 to 15 years (girls = 111,…

This study examined individual and familial influences on Black female adolescents' (N = 1426) sexual pleasure expectancies, sexual guilt, and age of sexual debut using data from the National Longitudinal Study on Adolescent to Adult Health. Results indicated significant differences between Black female adolescents that were sexually active and…

Symptoms of anxiety and depression are commonly comorbid and partially share a genetic etiology. Mean levels of anxiety and depression increase over the transition to adolescence, particularly in girls, suggesting a possible role of pubertal development in the activation of underlying genetic risks. The current study examined how genetic and…

To provide further insight into stress generation patterns in boys and girls around puberty, this study investigated longitudinal reciprocal relations between depressive symptoms, dysfunctional attitudes, and stress generation, the process by which individuals contribute to the occurrence of stress in interpersonal contexts (e.g., problematic…

Background: Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) experience greater sleep problems than their peers. Although adolescence is generally a developmental period characterized by insufficient sleep, few studies have used a multi-informant, multi-method design, to examine whether sleep differs in adolescents with and without…

Physical activity may benefit mental health, yet the potentially protective role of elementary school physical education (PE) on childhood mental health is unknown. The aim of the current study was to determine the effect of a specialist-taught PE program on indicators of childhood mental health. In this cluster-randomized controlled trial,…

This study tested the association between multiple prenatal and postnatal early life factors and adolescent sexual orientation in a longitudinal birth cohort. Factors included birth weight, gestational age, parental age at birth, number of older brothers and sisters, breastfeeding, maternal anxiety/depression, family socioeconomic position,…

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,…

Evolutionary-minded developmentalists studying predictive-adaptive-response processes linking childhood adversity with accelerated female reproductive development and health scientists investigating the developmental origins of health and disease (DOoHaD) may be tapping the same process, whereby longer-term health costs are traded off for…

Adolescent development involves a complex interplay between genetics, biology, and social and emotional relationships within multiple contexts of home, school and the broader community. The transition from primary to secondary school, coupled with the onset of puberty, can therefore be a difficult period for young people to negotiate at a critical…

This study prospectively examined pubertal timing and peer victimization as interactive predictors of depressive symptoms in a racially diverse community sample of adolescents. We also expanded on past research by assessing body esteem as a mechanism by which pubertal timing and peer victimization confer risk for depression. In all, 218…

We examined the relation between low self-esteem and depression using longitudinal data from a sample of 674 Mexican-origin early adolescents who were assessed at age 10 and 12 years. Results supported the vulnerability model, which states that low self-esteem is a prospective risk factor for depression. Moreover, results suggested that the…

Previous research has investigated the relationship between pubertal timing and depression in girls, with most results suggesting that earlier menarche predicts more depression in adolescence. However, few studies have controlled for the potentially confounding effects of childhood depressive symptoms. The current study uses a prospective,…