Initiation of Substance Use in Early Adolescence: The Roles of Pubertal Timing and Emotional Distress

Two hypotheses regarding the effects of pubertal timing on substance use were tested in a prospective study of 221 young adolescents. A maturational-deviance hypothesis predicted that early-maturing girls and late-maturing boys would experience heightened emotional distress, which in turn would infl...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Health psychology 1994-07, Vol.13 (4), p.326-333
Main Authors: Tschann, Jeanne M, Adler, Nancy E, Irwin, Charles E, Millstein, Susan G, Turner, Rebecca A, Kegeles, Susan M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adolescent Behavior - psychology
Age of Onset
Alcohol Abuse
Cannabis Use
Child
Distress
Drug Abuse
Early Adolescence
Female
Human
Humans
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Psychosexual Development
Puberty
Puberty - physiology
Puberty - psychology
Regression Analysis
Role
Sex Factors
Stress, Psychological - psychology
Substance abuse
Substance-Related Disorders - psychology
Theory Verification
Timing
Tobacco Smoking
Young people
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Two hypotheses regarding the effects of pubertal timing on substance use were tested in a prospective study of 221 young adolescents. A maturational-deviance hypothesis predicted that early-maturing girls and late-maturing boys would experience heightened emotional distress, which in turn would influence initiation and use of substances. Alternatively, an early-maturation hypothesis predicted that early-maturing girls would engage in more substance use than all other groups, independent of emotional distress. Early-maturing adolescents reported more substance use within 1 year. Adolescents experiencing elevated levels of negative affect also reported greater substance use within the next year. However, pubertal timing was not related to emotional distress. Results support the early-maturation hypothesis for girls and suggest its extension to boys.
ISSN:0278-6133
1930-7810
DOI:10.1037/0278-6133.13.4.326