Early menstruation linked to depression in teenagers
POSTED January 7, 2011 - 11:08 | POSTED BY neha gupta
Last edited by Harpreet Bhagrath on January 7, 2011 - 11:58
Experts also opined that "rows with parents and boyfriend troubles" might be the leading factor behind the development of mental problems in girls beginning their monthly periods sooner.
Hormonal fluctuations and sudden attention from the opposite sex are other reasons behind the psychological distress in teenagers.
"Early maturing girls may feel isolated, and faced with demands which they are not emotionally prepared for," the New York Daily News quoted lead researcher Dr. Carol Joinson of the School of Social and Community Medicine at Bristol University, as saying.
2,000 girls studied
The study, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, Medical Research Council, Wellcome Trust and University of Bristol, looked at a group of 2000 young girls aged 10-, 13-, and 14-year-old.
The girls were examined with the help of statistical models in order to assess the underlying relationship between early menstruation and onset of depressive symptoms.
They were further asked to fill out the Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire to evaluate feelings of low self-esteem and self-worth in the participants.
Factors like absence of a biological father, socioeconomic status of the family, and body mass index were taken into account in the study.
The study’s findings
The participants who started their periods before the age of 11.5 years were found to be the most depressed by the age of 13 and 14, while the ones who began their periods at 13.5 years of age reported the least depressive symptoms.
"Later maturation may be protective against psychological distress," said Joinson.
The researchers concluded that “early maturing girls are at increased risk of depressive symptoms in adolescence”. They say that these girls “could be targeted by programmes aimed at early intervention and prevention”.
However, the study had a few limitations, as it took only girls up to the age of 14 years into account, making it difficult to ascertain if the depressive symptoms might change beyond the age of 14 in the girls.
The Times quoted the researcher as saying, “It was not clear from the study whether early menstruation is associated with persistent adverse effects on emotional development beyond mid-adolescence.”
The study has been published in the British Journal of Psychiatry.
In:
