Timing and Rate of Sexual Maturation and the Onset of Cigarette and Alcohol Use Among Teenage Girls

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Abstract
Objective: To test the hypothesis that the patterns of pubertal progression, early vs late puberty and fast vs slow, are associated with the age at which girls start to drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes. Design: The study included 1463 female students, 10.7 to 18.2 years of age, who were assessed five times during the 2.7-year study. Data regarding pubertal stage, alcohol use, and cigarette use were obtained at each assessment. These data were used to calculate two indexes of pubertal development, the age at which the midpoint of puberty was achieved and the rate of progression through puberty, and the ages when each subject first drank, first drank moderate amounts of alcohol, and first smoked. Results: Girls with earlier puberty (midpoint Conclusion: Earlier puberty is associated with a younger age of onset for both drinking and smoking among adolescent girls. (Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 1994;148:789-795)