Puberty is not only a time when boys and girls become physiologically capable of sexual reproduction, it is also an important stage in the development of the brain. During puberty the still-developing brain adapts to the increased hormones, creating neural pathways for behavioral and cognitive functions. Now research reports that early puberty may be linked with anxiety and eating disorders in young adults.
The study, presented at the June 19-22, 2006 meeting of the International Congress of Neuroendocrinology (ICN) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, investigated whether early puberty is associated with an increased risk of anxiety and eating disorders in young adults. Researchers at Michigan State University conducted a survey of about 1,500 college students to identify early puberty and anxiety and eating disorders.
The researchers found that both male and female students with early puberty reported more abnormal eating behaviors and anxiety, than students with a normal onset of puberty. Some experts believe that early puberty can increase psychosocial pressures, causing anxiety and eating disorders in adolescence. Another theory is that increased hormones during early puberty may cause adolescent anxiety and eating disorders. However, study author Julia Zehr, Ph.D., believes that the causes may be more biological than psychosocial.
"Dr. Zehr points out that if either theory were true, adolescents would eventually grow out of such behaviors, because, eventually, the awkwardness of early puberty goes away and the hormones settle to adult levels," states the ICM news release. "Based on the study's finding that early puberty is associated with increased symptoms in both young men and women, Dr. Zehr believes the influences of puberty are more biological than solely psychosocial."
REFERENCES:
1. Rossi L and Duffy JU. Early puberty may mean anxiety, abnormal eating behaviors later. University of Pittsburgh Medical Center News Release, Medical News Today, June 25, 2006:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=45732
Posted by Elaine Gavalas on October 5, 2006 02:57 PM
