Developmental Timing of Trauma Exposure Relative to Puberty and the Nature of Psychopathology Among Adolescent Girls.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Increased neuroplasticity and neural development during puberty provide a context for which stress and trauma can have dramatic and long-lasting effects on psychological systems; therefore, this study was designed to determine whether exposure to potentially traumatic events during puberty uniquely predicts adolescent girls' psychopathology. Because neural substrates associated with different forms of psychopathology seemingly develop at different rates, the possibility that the developmental timing of trauma relative to puberty predicts the nature of psychopathology (posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD], depressive, and anxiety disorders) was examined.

Method

A subset of 2,899 adolescent girls from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication-Adolescent Supplement

SUBMITTER: Marshall AD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4691280 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature