Puberty in Context: Accounting for Psychosocial Experiences in the Association Between Pubertal Timing, Sex/Gender, and Adolescent Depressive Symptoms in Canadian Youth

Literature suggests that early pubertal timing constitutes a risk factor for adolescent depression, especially in girls. However, adverse experiences preceding (e.g., childhood adversity), co‐occurring with (e.g., changing peer and parent relationships), and following puberty (e.g., delinquent behavior) have been associated with both pubertal timing and adolescent depression, and little is currently known about how these experiences may be differentially associated with the correspondence between pubertal timing and depression across sex/gender. Using Canadian data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY), the present study investigated how sex/gender and relevant childhood, peri, and postpubertal psychosocial variables informed the relationship between pubertal timing and adolescent depressive symptoms. Preliminary models examining the relationship between pubertal timing and depressive symptoms in girls and boys suggested a linear association for both groups, facilitating a mixed‐sex/gender analysis supporting direct testing of sex/gender interactions. Data from 1400 Canadian youth (53% female; 96% Caucasian) showed that girls were more likely to report earlier pubertal development and higher rates of depressive symptoms at age 16–17. In a base model ignoring psychosocial context, we observed a significant interaction where early pubertal timing was associated with greater depressive symptoms in girls, with no pubertal timing effect apparent in boys. However, after accounting for psychosocial factors, adolescent depressive symptoms were best predicted by childhood emotional problems, peripubertal body dissatisfaction and perceived parental rejection irrespective of sex/gender, with additional sex/gender‐contingent effects of childhood family dysfunction and postpubertal delinquency. Moreover, pubertal timing did not explain significant variance in depressive symptoms in girls or boys after accounting for psychosocial context. These findings support the context‐contingency of sex/gender differences in the association between pubertal timing and adolescent depression. Conceptual and methodological ramifications of the need for an integrated biopsychosocial focus are discussed.