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The Association between Pubertal Development and Emotional/Behavioral Problems, Substance Use, and Suicidality among Adolescents

Huey-Ling Chiang, M.D.1, Yen-Nan Chiu, M.D.1, Chi-Yung Shang, M.D.1,2, Wen-Che Tsai, M.D.1, Susan Shur-Fen Gau, M.D., Ph.D.1,2

Objectives: Advanced pubertal stage and pubertal timing are among the risk
factors of several emotional/behavioral problems in White populations. But little
is known about such relationship in ethnic Chinese population. We cross-sectionally
and prospectively examined the relationship between adolescent pubertal
stage and mental health, focusing on emotional/behavioral problems, habitual use
of substances and suicidality. Methods: With randomized multi-stage sampling
method, we chose 1,388 7th graders, aged 13 to 14 years. Students completed the
Pubertal Developmental Scale, Youth Self Report and questions about habitual
substance use; their parents completed the Child Behavior Checklist and questions
about habitual substance use. One year later, the same subjects repeated same
questionnaires for comparison. Results: Totally 1,220 7th graders (604 boys,
49.5%) gave complete information. We followed up half of those students one year
later. Of 593 8th graders, 488 (242 boys, 49.6%) and their parents completed the
assessment. Our results showed that for both assessments in one year apart, most
of the severity of the behavioral/emotional problems and rates of habitual use of
substances and suicidality did not differ signifi cantly among students in the fi ve
pubertal stages. Conclusion: This study did not support an association between
pubertal staging and a wide range of emotional/behavioral problems, habitual use
of substances and suicidality in Taiwanese adolescents. We suggest that future investigations
on this topic need to include psychiatric interviews and objective assessments
of pubertal development.
Key Word emotional/behavioral problems, puberty, substance use, suicidality
Editorial Committe, Taiwanese Journal of Psychiatry
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