Early Puberty for Girls—more "bad mother" science?

Meghan - posted on 09/15/2010 ( 11 moms have responded )

What do you think? Could family stresses contribute to a daughter's early development?

A new study is causing a saber-rattle throughout the mom-o-sphere.

"Working moms, here's another side effect of your selfish, career-focused ways: your daughters will go through puberty much earlier than their well-raised peers," writes Madeline Holler on Babble.


Certainly, we need one more thing to blame ourselves for like a case of the Ebola virus. But, hold on. Looking at the research, I think this a false alarm.

First of all, it is disconcerting that little girls are barely losing their baby teeth before needing a training bra. A study just last month in Pediatrics showed that at least one out of ten white 7-year-olds are developing breasts; for black girls, it's more than one out of five. And earlier puberty comes with a price tag—higher rates of depression, anxiety, teenage sex, pregnancy, drinking, an poor school performance.


The new study, published in the journal Psychological Science is based on 373 females in a long-term study in England. At 15 months old, they underwent a standard procedure for evaluating attachment in which they were taken away and reunited with their mothers. While secure infants are happy and comforted to see mommy again, insecure children avoid contact or seem inconsolable. When the authors followed these babies into their teenage years, they found that the insecure girls began puberty sooner—and had their first periods, on average, 2.6 months earlier— than those who were securely attached.

Lead author, Jay Belsky, PhD, who seems to wear controversy like stubble (most recently over his research on day care), believes his puberty findings makes sense in terms of evolutionary logic: An uncertain, risky home environment would prime the female body to hurry up and make babies before something dire happens in order to keep the species going.

Let's see. Darwin is not answering from his grave, but I've gotten a hold of Belsky, who is director of the Institute for the Study of Children, Families, and Social Issues at Birkbeck University of London. I also asked clinical psychologist, Kori Levos Skidmore, PhD, to check out the study. She was one of the experts consulted for an early attachment handbook put out this year with PBS's series "This Emotional Life."

So let's get a few things straight:

Are working moms to blame? No, says, Belsky, whose new research doesn't even address the job question. He stresses that, although research has shown a modest increase in insecurity among children who spend a lot of their first 15 months in day care (or are shuttled around to different arrangements or in care that is poor quality), this is only true when the mother's own care lacks sensitivity. "If the child's experiences at home with the mother are secure," he says, "there's no relationship between day care and insecurity."

Skidmore further emphasizes: "Attachment indicates the quality of time spent between parent and child, not the quantity." A mother who is unable to be sensitive and consistent in responding to her baby's cues, she adds, may worsen an insecure attachment by spending more time with the child. "In my clinical and personal experience," Skidmore says, "many non-working moms with the resources to hire full-time nannies, are more distracted and fragmented than working mothers, who have stable schedules of parenting time."

What about the dads? Good question—and one that most of the research, so far, has actually focused on. A number of studies suggest that the absence of a father is associated with daughters who mature faster. Add a stepfather into the mix and that, too, has an accelerating effect. "It's consistent with other findings showing that a variety of stressors in the family, including parent-child conflict or lack of warm, sensitive care, is predictive of early pubertal development in girls," says, Belsky.



It's all in the family? First of all, as Skidmore points out, the latest study only shows an association between attachment and pubertal timing, not that one causes the other.Genetics definitely plays a part in early development (Belsky's study took that into account), as does higher weight and body fat. Environmental toxins, may also tamper with hormones. And stress is known to affect us physically in all kinds of ways. "I would not conclude that insecure attachment is the most important determinant of earlier maturing in females," says Belsky. "But I would certainly regard family forces as influential."

If nothing else, this is one more reminder to listen harder to your daughter. And it's also a reason, says Skidmore, to pay extra attention to yourself. Attachment goes both ways, and you'll need your strength to face another adolescence, whenever it starts.
What do you think? Could family stresses contribute to a daughter's early development?