Some support has been found for an association between hormonal concentrations and negative affect20 - 24; however, social factors, including negative life events and their interaction
with pubertal status (but not hormonal status), account for more of the variance in negative affect than biological factors alone.25 Early pubertal timing and its social implications have also been postulated as an important risk factor in girls.26 - 31 Two recent studies, however, report that pubertal status has a greater influence in predicting female depression than age32, 33 or the timing of puberty.32
Results showed that although the four - way interaction between NCS, stressors, gender, and age was significant while the four - way interaction
with pubertal status was marginally significant, the interpretation of these interactions was largely similar, i.e., NCS and depressive symptoms were significantly related only in the presence of many stressors in middle to late adolescent boys (or in boys reporting a high pubertal status).
The analyses
with pubertal status instead of age yielded different results with regard to the main models.
Not exact matches
Depression was associated
with more mature
pubertal status and early timing (both actual and perceived) in girls, but
with less mature
pubertal status and late timing (actual and perceived) in boys.
The objective of this study was to test a comprehensive model of biologic (
pubertal status), family (communication and conflict), and psychological influences (behavioral autonomy) on diabetes management and glycemic control in a sample of youth (N = 226)
with type 1 diabetes recruited during late childhood / early adolescence (ages 9 — 11 years).
In boys who reported low
pubertal status, both NCS (β =.48, p =.001) and stressors (β =.27, p =.002) were significantly associated
with depressive symptoms.
NCS was more strongly related to depressive symptoms in boys
with high
pubertal status that reported many (mean +1 SD) stressors (β =.73, p =.16) compared to boys
with high
pubertal status reporting few stressors (β =.21, p =.74).
Moderation by
pubertal status instead of age yielded slightly different results, that is, in the model
with stress - reactive rumination, the relationship between negative cognitive style and depressive symptoms was stronger in adolescents who perceived their
pubertal status as high, whereas age did not moderate this relationship.