The Self-assessment Status Of Pubertal Timing And Its Link To Depression Among Girls

Objective:To understand the self-assessment status of Pubertal timing of girls of4ththrough9thgrade in Bengbu city, Anhui province, to explore the relationship between Pubertaltiming(early、on-time、delay) and depression, and to analyze the related influencingfactors of depression,in order to provide more scientific basis to prevent and reduce theoccurrence of the girls’depression.Methods:Based on a cross-sectional analysis of1113girls of4ththrough9thgrade, selected bystratified, random cluster sampling from three primary schools, two junior high schoolin Bengbu city, Anhui province. Information concerning general survey, PubertalDevelopment Scale (PDS), Pubertal Tanner stage assessment,the Children’s DepressionInventory (CDI) was collected by a self-assessment questionnaire. SPSS17.0was usedto statistical analysis. We estimated the distribution of time of menarche, Tanner stageⅡ、Ⅲ、Ⅳ for breast development,, and Tanner stage Ⅱ、Ⅲ、Ⅳ for pubic hairdevelopment by probit analyses, Comparison between mean were used T-test andAVOVA, multiple factors analysis were used multiple linear regression analysis.Results:⑴Self-assessment status of Pubertal timing:Self-assessment median ages of breastdevelopment at Tanner stage Ⅱ、Ⅲ、Ⅳ were9.71、12.06、15.03years;self-assessmentmedian ages of pubic hair development at Tanner stage Ⅱ、Ⅲ、Ⅳ were10.99、12.39、14.98years;self-assessment median age of menarche is11.71years.The general order ofevents during puberty for girls were breast development (9.71years)�'pubic hairdevelopment (10.99years)�'Menarche (11.71years).⑵the relationship between the girl’s general condition and depression:the scores ofdepression was significantly in different phase of studying, grade, age, family structure,perceived family economic conditions, the educational level of father, the educationallevel of mother(P<0.05)； the scores of depression was significantly in different perceived body image satisfaction(P<0.05)；the scores of depression was significantly indifferent number of close friends(P<0.05).⑶the relationship between the girl’s self-assessment status of Pubertal timing anddepression:Single factor analysis showed that the scores of depression was significantlyin different perceived overall pubertal timing、perceived breast’s pubertal timing、perceived menarche’s pubertal timing （P<0.05）; he scores of depression wassignificantly in different actual overall pubertal timing（P<0.05）.Multiple linearregression analysis showed that there are six variable entered the regressionequation.According to the size of the standardized regression coefficients,the order ofthe contribution to total load size were perceived body image satisfaction,the number ofclose friends, perceived family economic conditions, the actual overall pubertal timing,perceived early pubertal timing of breast and family structure, cumulatively explained23.7%of the variance in girl’s depression.Conclusions:⑴The general order of events during puberty for girls in Bengbu city were breastdevelopment (9.71years)�'pubic hair development (10.99years)�'Menarche(11.71years).⑵perceived poorer body image satisfaction, less number of close friends, perceivedpoorer family economic conditions, perceived early pubertal timing of breast, early theactual overall pubertal timing, every youth generation and single parent families are theimportant influencing factors of girls’depression. Research suggests we shouldstrengthen the psychological counselling among the girl of early pubertal timingespecially perceived early pubertal timing of breast, take more care to the girls ofwithdrawn character, encouraging them to make friemds with cheerful good friends,atthe same time education parents live together with their daughter as much as possible,create a good family atmosphere,that will produce certain positive role to prevent andreduce the girl’s depression.