Sex abuse triggers early puberty and its problems

Puberty can be a tough time for all youth, but for girls who have been sexually abused, it spells double trouble. Sexually abused girls reach puberty before other girls, a new study finds, and early puberty increases their risk of having emotional problems. "Early maturing girls are already more vulnerable to mood problems than other kids, but this risk seems to be magnified for girls with histories of sexual abuse," said Jane Mendle, assistant professor of human development in Cornell's College of Human Ecology, whose study was published online (Aug. 28) in the Journal of Research on Adolescence) ahead of print. "Girls who reach puberty ahead of peers are substantially more likely to be targets of peer sexual harassment and receive a high number of unsolicited comments on their bodies," said first author Mendle. For those with histories of sexual abuse (about one in five girls in the United States), these challenges and pressures may become a tipping point for emotional difficulties such as depression and anxiety, she said. Mendle and colleagues studied 100 girls in foster care, all of whom had experienced maltreatment early in childhood.