英国一项调查研究显示，那些较早发育的女孩常会在青春期更多地出现抑郁症状，这可能是因为她们对生理和心理变化准备不足，因此学校和家庭应注意为她们提供相应的帮助。
英国布里斯托尔大学等机构的研究人员在新一期《英国精神病学杂志》上报告说，他们调查了2000多名女孩的资料，结果发现，在十一岁半之前就开始月经初潮的女孩，在十三、十四岁时表现出最多的抑郁症状，而在十三岁半之后才有月经初潮的女孩，在青春期出现抑郁症状的风险最低。
研究人员卡罗尔·约翰逊说，女孩进入青春期后会在生理、心理和社交等方面出现很大变化，那些比同伴发育早的女孩常常会没有足够的心理准备并感到孤单，从而出现更大的抑郁风险。因此学校和家庭需要注意这个问题，尽早为她们提供相应的帮助。
此前曾有理论认为所有女孩在进入青春期后都会面临差别不大的压力，而本次研究指出那些较早发育的女孩面临的压力更大。不过研究人员也表示，这种差别导致的抑郁风险差异可能只存在于青春期，对于成人后是否仍有相关影响还有待进一步研究。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推荐原文出处：
The British Journal of Psychiatry doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.110.080861
Timing of menarche and depressive symptoms in adolescent girls from a UK cohort
Carol Joinson, PhD, Jon Heron, PhD and Glyn Lewis, PhD FRCPsych
School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol
Background
A growing number of studies suggest a link between timing of menarche and risk of depressive symptoms in adolescence, but few have prospectively examined the emergence of depressive symptoms from late childhood into adolescence.
Aims
To examine whether girls who experience earlier menarche than their peers have higher levels of depressive symptoms in adolescence.
Method
The study sample comprised 2184 girls from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. The association between timing of menarche and depressive symptoms at 10.5, 13 and 14 years was examined within a structural equation model.
Results
Girls with early menarche (<11.5 years) had the highest level of depressive symptoms at 13 (P = 0.007) and 14 years (P<0.001) compared with those with normative and late timing of menarche.
Conclusions
Early maturing girls are at increased risk of depressive symptoms in adolescence and could be targeted by programmes aimed at early intervention and prevention.
