You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
The start of ‘adolescence’, the developmental stage between childhood and adulthood, is often described as coinciding with the onset of puberty (Rose, 2005; Laufer et al., 1995, Tonnesmann, 1980), where puberty is characterised by the ‘acquisition of secondary sexual characteristics, accelerated linear growth, increase in the secretion of sex hormones, and maturation of gonads (testes in boys; ovaries in girls)’ (BMJ, 2023, p. 1). The average age for girls to start puberty is 11 years old and for boys it is a bit later, at 12 years old (NHS). Puberty is ‘typically complete within 2 to 5 years’ (BMJ, 2023, p. 1). Dwyer (2020) describes puberty as a ‘remarkable period of postnatal development culminating in reproductive capacity’ (p. 15). The physiological changes which occur during puberty are recognised as having a profound psychological impact. As Hoxter describes, the adolescent now ‘has the physical capacity to put into action much which would appear mainly as phantasy in the young child’ (1980, p. 13). ‘The body, which until puberty was experienced as a passive carrier of needs and wishes, now becomes the active force in sexual and aggressive fantasy and behaviour’ (Laufer et al., 1995, p. 5).
Given the profound impact of the biological changes that take place during puberty on the adolescent’s psychological, social, and maturational development, it is important to consider what happens when these processes deviate from the norm. Therefore, the focus of the current Research Digest is on recent studies examining biological disturbances to puberty.
Disturbances during puberty are reported to impact more than 4% of adolescents (Howard, ). There are two main distinctions of puberty disturbance: precocious (also referred to as early) and delayed. ‘Precocious puberty occurs before 8 years of age for girls or before 9 years of age for boys’ (BMJ, 2023, p. 1). Information on the BMJ website (precocious puberty - symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment) describes precocious pub