Girls who start puberty earlier more likely to experience depression as adults, study suggests

The average age girls start menstruating is 12.5 years old

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Girls who get their periods early are more likely to develop psychological problems in adulthood, a new study suggests.

Researchers at Cornell University tracked nearly 8,000 girls from adolescence into their late 20s and found that those who started puberty at a young age were more susceptible to depression, anxiety, eating disorders and substance abuse.

The study, which was published in the journal Pediatrics, suggests these issues could persist for years.

In addition to being more likely to experience psychological problems, researchers found that girls who start their periods around the average age or younger (studies show that some women start their periods as early as eight years old) are more likely to engage in antisocial behaviours such as rule-breaking and delinquency.

Plus, they found that these behaviours only worsened with age.

The study’s authors collected their findings by analysing data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, which contains information on 7,800 women.

As part of the nationally representative study, these women were asked when they began menstruating and their psychological health was subsequently tracked for a 14-year-long period between 1994 and 2008.

According to the researchers, the reason why girls who mature earlier are at greater risk of psychological problems is because early puberty can elicit a disparity between a girl’s physical appearance and her cognitive maturity.

This can foster a distorted self-perception which can lead to bullying at school and put them at risk of sexual harassment, they said.

"What's tricky is because they look older, they start to get treated like they're older. But they still have the internal mental workings of their normal chronological age," said lead author Jane Mendle.

As for why these problems continue in adulthood, Mendle and her colleagues revealed this will be the subject of their next study.