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Characterization of Puberty in an Australian Population-Based Cohort Study

Vijayakumar, Nandita; Husin, Hanafi Mohamad; Dashti, S Ghazaleh; Mundy, Lisa; Moreno-Betancur, Margarita; Viner, Russell M; Goddings, Anne-Lise; ... Patton, George C; + view all (2023) Characterization of Puberty in an Australian Population-Based Cohort Study. Journal of Adolescent Health 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2023.08.035. (In press). Green open access

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Abstract

Purpose: Current knowledge of the characteristics of puberty beyond age at menarche and thelarche is limited, particularly within population-based cohorts. Secular trends and concerns of the health effects of early puberty reinforce the value of contemporary studies characterizing the timing, tempo, duration, and synchronicity of puberty. // Methods: The Childhood to Adolescence Transition Study is a unique Australian cohort of individuals followed annually from late childhood to late adolescence, with up to eight assessments of pubertal stage from 9 to 19 years of age (N = 1,183; 636 females). At each assessment, females reported their Tanner Stage of breast and pubic hair development, while males reported on genital/pubic hair development. Nonlinear mixed-effects models characterized pubertal trajectories and were used to derive each individual’s estimates of timing, tempo, and synchronicity. Parametric survival models were used to estimate the overall duration of puberty. // Results: Timing of mid-puberty (Tanner Stage 3) ranged from 12.5 to 13.5 years, with females developing approximately 6 months before males. Pubertal tempo (at mid-puberty) was similar across sex (between half and one Tanner Stage per year), but the overall duration of puberty was slightly shorter in males. Most females exhibited asynchronous changes of breast and pubic hair development. // Discussion: Estimates of pubertal timing and tempo are consistent with reports of cohorts from two or more decades ago, suggesting stabilization of certain pubertal characteristics in predominantly White populations. However, our understanding of the duration of puberty and individual differences in pubertal characteristics (e.g., synchronicity of physical changes) remains limited.

Type: Article
Title: Characterization of Puberty in an Australian Population-Based Cohort Study
Location: United States
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2023.08.035
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2023.08.035
Language: English
Additional information: Copyright © 2023 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Keywords: Puberty; Longitudinal cohort; Timing; Tempo; Duration; Synchrony
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health > Population, Policy and Practice Dept
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10179654
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