Maturational Timing and the Development of Problem Behavior

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Abstract
Previous research demonstrated a higher risk for problem behaviors among early as compared to late maturing girls. In the present study, the role of maturational timing was assessed within the framework of a developmental model for adolescent problem behavior. Data obtained twice, one year apart, on 62 girls in early adolescence (11 to 12 years of age) and 193 girls in middle adolescence (14 to 15 years of age) were compared. Girls self-reported information on maturational timing, parental support, peer rejection, self-derogation, transgression proneness, and contacts with deviant peers. In both age cohorts, peer rejection was related to more self-derogation, with both related to more contacts with deviant peers, mediated by transgression proneness in middle adolescence. Parental support protected against such contacts and in middle adolescence protected against transgression proneness and self-derogation. In middle adolescence, early maturation led to more contacts with deviant peers but lower self-derogation; similarly, in early adolescence early maturers reported less peer rejection. Thus, the predictions were generally supported except for the surprising result of lower self-derogation among early maturers.