Early Puberty May Increase Depression Risk in Girls * 

Girls who start puberty at an early age may be at increased risk of adolescent depression; at least that's what a new study out of the University of Bristol and the University of Cambridge suggests.

The research, published in the latest issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry, indicates that girls who start their periods before the age of 11-and-a-half are at highest risk of developing symptoms of depression by age 13 or 14.

Girls who begin menstruating after age 13-and-a-half have the lowest risk of depression, study authors say.

Led by Dr. Carol Joinson in Bristol University's School of Social and Community Medicine, researchers followed more than 2,000 girls taking part in the long-term Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children and evaluated the association between the onset of menstruation and symptoms of depression at ages 10-and-a-half, 13 and 14.

Dr. Alan Kazdin, professor of psychology and child psychiatry at Yale University and former president of the American Psychological Association, told AOL Health this latest study is not the first to look at the relationship between menstruation and depression in adolescent girls. He doesn't believe the link is as clear as the study authors make it out to be, however.

"When girls mature early in their peer group, they tend to have low self-esteem and poor body image," he says. That means that the age at which a girl reaches puberty may have less to do with her risk of developing depression than how that age compares with others in her peer group.

Kazdin says parents need to be aware of this vulnerability in adolescent girls entering puberty at a younger age than their peers. "Build competencies in your daughter early," he advises parents, encouraging them to help their children get involved in sports, music or some other kind of social activity where they can excel. "Give your child a source of inner expertise to serve as a buffer against issues of self-esteem."

Kazdin also encourages parents to be sensitive to potential changes in the behavior of their adolescent daughters. "Is she sleeping a lot? Avoiding activities she normally enjoys?"

Kazdin says depression normally resolves itself in about a year in 90 percent of cases, but it can be episodic and come back later in life."Be sensitive that your daughter is going through something real," he says, "and keep an eye on it."

*http://www.aolhealth.com/2011/01/05/early-puberty-depression-risk/