Onset of disordered eating attitudes and behaviors in early adolescence: interplay of pubertal status, gender, weight, and age

The interplay of puberty, gender, weight, and age in regard to body image and disordered eating behaviors and attitudes was investigated in a sample of early adolescents. It was found that, after menarche, females had increased personal expectations and were dissatisfied with weight/shape changes. They wanted to reduce their weight and between-meal eating (which was associated with increased feelings of inadequacy, loss of control, and decreased self-esteem). Young postmenarcheal females who were higher achievers and had higher trait anxiety were more likely to have lower weight. Young males at puberty desired to build up their bodies, believing that appearance was important to their sexual appeal. They were also more willing to form close relationships. Postpubertal males felt most in control of their lives, had the highest self-esteem, and were more trusting of their body cues. Overall, high achieving, more anxious postmenarcheal females were at greatest risk for eating disturbances. These results indicate that the interaction of pubertal status and gender must be considered when developing intervention programs.     

Individual differences are accentuated during periods of social change: the sample case of girls at puberty

The emergence of new behaviors and the reorganization of psychological structures are often attributed to critical events and crises in the life course. A fundamentally different perspective is offered: Potentially disruptive transitions produce personality continuity, not change. The behavioral responses of adolescent girls to the onset of menarche was studied in a longitudinal study of an unselected birth cohort. Predictions from 3 rival hypotheses about the relation between pubertal change and social psychological change were first tested: the stressful change, off time, and early-timing hypotheses. The results supported the early-timing hypothesis. Whether stressful, early menarche generated new behavioral problems or accentuated premenarcheal dispositions was then tested. The results supported an accentuation model: Stressful transitions accentuated behavioral problems among girls who were predisposed to behavioral problems earlier in childhood. Speculations are offered for a broader theory about the role of individual differences in the life course.     

Moderators of the internalization–body dissatisfaction relationship in middle school girls

The purpose of the present study was to replicate and extend previous research by examining the moderating effects of self-esteem, physical self-concept, physical appearance comparisons, BMI, pubertal status, and cardiorespiratory fitness, on the internalization–body dissatisfaction relationship in middle school girls. Hierarchical multiple regression (HMR) was used to examine direct and moderating effects of these variables. Internalization was related directly and significantly to body dissatisfaction, as were the proposed moderators (i.e., self-esteem, physical self-concept, physical appearance comparisons, BMI, pubertal status, and cardiorespiratory fitness); however, these variables failed to significantly influence the internalization–body dissatisfaction relationship. Possible explanations for the lack of moderating effects and directions for future research are discussed.     

Pubertal timing and self-esteem in adolescents: The mediating role of body-image and social relations

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between pubertal timing and self-esteem, and the mediating role of body-image, parent–adolescent interaction and peer support within this relationship. The sample comprised 526 adolescents, aged 10–13. Two measures of pubertal timing were used: perceived pubertal timing and pubertal timing based on Pubertal Development Scale (PDS). There were no differences in self-esteem between groups of adolescents with different pubertal timing based on PDS. Perceived early maturation was related to lower self-esteem in girls, and higher self-esteem in boys. We found evidence that the relationship between girls' perceived pubertal timing and self-esteem is mediated through the following variables: closeness to mother and father, and conflict with mother. In boys, mediators of the relationship between perceived pubertal timing and self-esteem are body-image and excessive control by mother. The results imply that interventions aiming to improve early maturing girls' self-esteem should focus on the interaction with their parents.     

Sexual socialization during early adolescence: the menarche

It has been shown that during adolescence most information about sexual matters, generally colored with misconceptions, comes from the peer group, since cultural inhibitions often prevent discussion with parents or other adults. In addition, there is abundant evidence from anthropological data of diffuse negative beliefs across cultures concerning menstruation. In order to explore the early socialization of beliefs and attitudes toward menarche, 258 adolescents, aged 11 to 14 years, male and female pre- and postmenarcheal, from southern Italy, were interviewed by way of an open questionnaire method. The results showed a consistent lack of accurate information by a high percentage of subjects, both male and female; negative beliefs were held only by girls, pre- and postmenarcheal, while boys were more likely to ignore the subject. Half of the postmenarcheal girls expressed a negative evaluation of their first experiences with menstruation, generally due to lack of advance information. As to sources of information, importance of the peer group was confirmed, especially for boys; the influence of the mother and the cultural environment accounted for the positive acceptance of menarche. Fathers appeared to be uninvolved in the transmission of information about menstruation to either boys or girls.     

Gender differences in psychological well-being of Mexican early adolescents.

This study examined gender differences in the effects of menarche in females and voice change in males, specifically with regard to depression, self-esteem, body image, and externalizing problems (i.e., behavioral disturbances). In addition, possible modifying variables (relationship with parents, social-emotional adjustment, level of parental education, and menstrual attitudes) were assessed. Participants were 1,102 Mexican youths aged 9 to 14. Analyses indicated that there were no gender differences among prepubertal youths in depression, body image, or self-esteem, but prepubertal males had more externalizing problems than did premenarcheal females. Females increased in depression, externalizing problems, and negative body image postmenarche, while males showed no change in depression, a trend toward fewer externalizing problems, and felt better about their bodies following voice change. Relationship with parents, social-emotional adjustment, parental education, and menstrual attitudes did not modify the relation between menarche and body image or depression. Based on these findings, suggestions for designing interventions aimed at early adolescent females are presented.     

Adolescent girls' sex role development: Relationship with sports participation,self-esteem,and age at menarche

This study investigated the development of sex role orientation among adolescent girls, and explored its relationship with sports participation, self-esteem, and age at menarche. The instruments were administered to 134 girls yearly from Grades 6 to 10 (ages 11 to 15). The results obtained with the Bem Sex Role Inventory showed group mean increases in the masculine and feminine scale scores, and considerable shifting in sex role categorizations over the five years. However, individual differences were quite consistent during the five-year study, suggesting some degree of stability in sex role orientation during adolescence. Sports participants and girls with high self-esteem had greater masculine sex role orientations throughout adolescence, with no differences in feminine orientations. It was concluded that the relationship of sex role orientation with sports participation and self-esteem was not an interactive one, but was reflective of individual differences. These individual differences begin in late childhood, with the variables developing concurrently. Age at menarche did not affect sex role orientation.     

Biopsychosocial and Physical Correlates of Middle School Boys’ and Girls’ Body Satisfaction

Boys (n?=?629) and girls (n?=?659) in grades 6 through 8 in the U.S. completed self-report measures of pubertal development, weight pressures, internalization, social appearance comparison, self-esteem, depression, and physical self-concept, and objective measures of cardiorespiratory fitness and BMI. Regression analyses revealed that gender moderated the strength of the relationships between the variables and body satisfaction (girls—Adj. R ²?=?.49; boys—Adj. R ²?=?.20), though BMI, pressures, physical self-concept, and self-esteem were related significantly for each gender. Girls were most affected by pressures related to weight loss, whereas gaining weight and musculature was most salient for boys. Future research needs to examine longitudinally how these variables contribute to the development of body satisfaction.     

The Function of Ethnicity, Income Level, and Menstrual Taboos in Postmenarcheal Adolescents’ Understanding of Menarche and Menstruation

The purpose of this study was to examine differences in knowledge about menstruation, feelings of preparation for menarche, and menstrual attitudes of early adolescent girls from different ethnic groups and income levels. An interaction between ethnicity and income level was also investigated. Participants were 165 postmenarcheal adolescent girls’ (ages 11–15) from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, who were categorized into four groups: higher income European Americans, lower income European Americans, higher income African Americans, and lower income African Americans. It was predicted that African Americans, lower income participants, and lower income African Americans would score lower on a menstrual knowledge test, report feeling less prepared for menarche, and report more negative menstrual attitudes (i.e., fewer positive feelings about menstruation, more negative feelings about menstruation, and less openness toward menstruation) than European Americans, higher income participants, and any other income level and ethnicity grouping. Not all hypotheses were fully supported. Participants’ lacked accurate menstrual knowledge and felt unprepared for menarche, but menstrual attitudes were ambivalent. Ethnicity and income level alone did not play a substantial role in girls’ understanding of menarche and menstruation; however, they did interact. Overall, higher income European Americans fared better than the other participants. Theories and research regarding girls’ understanding of menarche and menstruation must take sociocultural factors into account.     

Pubertal timing and substance use: associations between and within families across late adolescence

In the present study, between-family analyses of data from adolescent twin girls offer new evidence that early menarche is associated with earlier initiation and greater frequency of smoking and drinking. The role of personality factors and peer relationships in that association was investigated, and little support was found for their involvement. Novel within-family analyses replicating associations of substance use with pubertal timing in contrasts of twin sisters selected for extreme discordance for age at menarche are reported. Within-family replications demonstrated that the association of pubertal timing with substance use cannot be explained solely by between-family confounds. Within-family analyses demonstrated contextual modulation of the influence of pubertal timing: Its impact on drinking frequency is apparent only among girls in urban settings. Sibling comparisons illustrate a promising analytic tool for studying diverse developmental outcomes.     

Father absence, menarche and interest in infants among adolescent girls

In this study we examined the relationship between menarche and interest in infants among adolescent girls, and the effects of early environment, particularly of father absence from home, on both variables. Eighty-three girls ranging in age from between 11 and 14 years served as study participants. Interest in infants was assessed through their preferences for photos and silhouettes of animal and human faces of infants versus adults. Information on menarche and the early family environment was obtained with questionnaires and interviews. Variation in menarcheal status or timing of menarche was associated with some differences in interest in infants. There was little or no evidence, however, that suggested a direct causal relationship between these variables. Instead, both menarche and interest in infants were independently associated with early father absence from home such that father-absent girls exhibited earlier menarche and greater attraction to infant visual stimuli than father-present girls. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that father absence is associated with a developmental trajectory characterized by earlier readiness for reproduction and parenting.     

Gene-environment interplay in the association between pubertal timing and delinquency in adolescent girls

Early pubertal timing places girls at elevated risk for a breadth of negative outcomes, including involvement in delinquent behavior. While previous developmental research has emphasized the unique social challenges faced by early maturing girls, this relation is complicated by genetic influences for both delinquent behavior and pubertal timing, which are seldom controlled for in existing research. The current study uses genetically informed data on 924 female-female twin and sibling pairs drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to (1) disentangle biological versus environmental mechanisms for the effects of early pubertal timing and (2) test for gene-environment interactions. Results indicate that early pubertal timing influences girls' delinquency through a complex interplay between biological risk and environmental experiences. Genes related to earlier age at menarche and higher perceived development significantly predict increased involvement in both nonviolent and violent delinquency. Moreover, after accounting for this genetic association between pubertal timing and delinquency, the impact of nonshared environmental influences on delinquency are significantly moderated by pubertal timing, such that the nonshared environment is most important among early maturing girls. This interaction effect is particularly evident for nonviolent delinquency. Overall, results suggest early maturing girls are vulnerable to an interaction between genetic and environmental risks for delinquent behavior.     

Parental autonomy granting during adolescence: exploring gender differences in context

This study investigated the ways in which 2 indicators of parental autonomy granting, adolescents' decision-making input and parental knowledge of adolescents' daily experiences, differed as a function of contextual factors (i.e., parents' gender role attitudes or sibling dyad sex composition) and boys' and girls' personal qualities (i.e., gender, pubertal status, developmental status, or birth order) in a sample of 194 families with firstborn (M = 15.0 years) and second-born (M = 12.5 years) adolescents. Firstborns were granted more autonomy than second borns, especially in families with firstborn girls and second-born boys. Girls in families marked by traditional maternal gender role attitudes were granted fewer autonomy opportunities. Postmenarcheal second-born girls were granted more opportunities for autonomy than were premenarcheal second-born girls, but only in families with less traditional maternal gender role attitudes.     

Teaching adolescents about changing bodies: Randomized controlled trial of an Internet puberty education and body dissatisfaction prevention program

This study tested the efficacy of an Internet-based prevention program, Trouble on the Tightrope: In Search of Skateboard Sam, on pubertal knowledge, body esteem, and self-esteem. One hundred and ninety participants (mean age 11.6 years) were randomized to either an intervention or attention placebo control condition and were assessed at baseline, after three Internet-based sessions, and at 3-month follow-up. Although the primary hypotheses were not supported, exploratory moderator analyses indicated that the intervention was beneficial for select students. Specifically, pubertal status moderated the effects on weight-related body esteem and several domains of self-esteem, resulting in positive effects for participants in the intervention group who had begun puberty. Gender differences were found on self-esteem subscales, indicating more robust effects for girls than boys. Tailored Internet programs based on personal characteristics such as gender and pubertal status may be a fruitful area for future research with adolescents.     

Predicting Adolescent Self-Esteem From Participation in School Sports Among Latino Subgroups

Data from the in-school survey of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health on girls and boys who claim a Mexican, Puerto Rican, or Cuban heritage were employed to test two hypotheses: (1) Participating in a school-based sport is associated with self-esteem, and (2) school attachment and a sense of physical well-being mediate this relationship. The first hypothesis was partially confirmed in that participation in school sports was associated with self-esteem among Mexican American adolescent girls and boys, Puerto Rican girls, and Cuban American boys, but not among Cuban American girls nor Puerto Rican boys. The second hypothesis was confirmed in that, where there was a significant relationship between participating in a school sport and self-esteem, school attachment and physical well-being mediated this relationship. The results underscore the need to study psychosocial processes separately among Latino subgroups and to examine gender within each subgroup.     

Fitting In and Feeling Good

Abstract

This study examined self-evaluation (self-esteem, perceived physical attractiveness, and perceived social competence) and indicators of psychological stress (physical and somatic symptoms of depression and substance use) among 463 adolescent biracial girls from three different backgrounds: Black-White, Hispanic-White, and Asian-White. Patterns of self-evaluation and psychological stress were examined as a function of both parentage and self-identification as either White or non-White. Biracial girls were compared with nonbiracial girls on all variables. Results indicated that outcomes vary as a function of parentage and ethnic self-identification and that there is broad variability among biracial girls from different backgrounds.     

Cultural, contextual, and intrapersonal predictors of risky sexual attitudes among urban African American girls in early adolescence

The role of cultural factors in explaining sexual attitudes among African American urban girls, aged 10-13 years, was investigated in this study. The authors predicted that girls with higher school interest, family cohesion, religiosity, and behavioral self-esteem would endorse less risky sexual attitudes. Also, older girls were expected to have more risky sexual attitudes than younger girls, and girls from 1- rather than 2-parent households were expected to have more risky sexual attitudes. The authors hypothesized that ethnic identity and gender role orientations would contribute to explaining variability in sexual attitudes after controlling for contextual and intrapersonal variables. A questionnaire containing measures of the study constructs was administered to 214 girls who were participants in a substance abuse prevention program. Pretest data were used in analyses. A final regression model accounted for 23% of the variance in sexual attitudes. Age and behavioral self-esteem were significant predictors, with younger teens and teens with higher behavioral self-esteem having less risky sexual attitudes. Cultural variables contributed to explaining variation in sexual attitudes after other variables were controlled for. Higher levels of ethnic identity were associated with less risky sexual attitudes. A masculine gender role orientation was associated with more risky sexual attitudes.     

Black Adolescent Girls: Do Gender Role and Racial Identity: Impact Their Self-Esteem?

This study was designed to explore Black adolescent girls' gender roles, racial identity, and self-esteem. These variables have not been examined together in a study of Black girls, yet studies of girls from other racial/cultural groups have demonstrated significant relationships. This type of exploration is important because Black girls do not experience the same declines in self-esteem as girls from other racial/cultural groups. Gender role orientation and racial identity have been put forth as possible explanations for Black girls' bolstered levels of self-esteem. Results indicated that Black girls with androgynous and masculine characteristics reported high levels of self-esteem. The results also indicated that Black girls with internally defined Black racial identity attitudes reported high levels of domain-specific self-esteem. In addition, androgyny was associated with high scores on internalization (Black racial identity).