Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Aug 20:S1054-139X(25)00236-8.
doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2025.05.026. Online ahead of print.

The Bidirectional Association Between Racial Discrimination and Pubertal Development: A Prospective Investigation Among Black & Latinx Adolescents

Michael G Curtis  1 , Ava Reck  2 , Chris Collins  2 , Elizabeth Kwon  3 , Nikia M Pinson  2 , Kalsea J Koss  2 , Steven M Kogan  2
Affiliations

The Bidirectional Association Between Racial Discrimination and Pubertal Development: A Prospective Investigation Among Black & Latinx Adolescents

Michael G Curtis et al. J Adolesc Health. .

Abstract

Purpose: Racial discrimination has been linked with pubertal development among Black and Latinx American youth. The direction of effects, however, is poorly understood. We examined bidirectional associations between exposure to racial discrimination and pubertal development among Black and Latinx boys and girls from age 9 to age 11.

Methods: This study uses longitudinal data from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development study collected from 2016 to 2020. The sample included 3,271 youth (1,470 Black youth and 1,801 Latinx youth) approximately aged 11 at Time (T) 1 and 12 at T2. Bidirectional effects were tested with cross-lagged models stratified by race/ethnicity and sex.

Results: Results demonstrated nonsignificant associations between T1 racial discrimination and T2 pubertal status among demographic subgroups (i.e. Black girls, Black boys, Latinx girls, and Latinx boys). In contrast, we found significant prospective associations between T1 pubertal development and T2 racial discrimination among Black and Latinx girls, but not Black or Latinx boys. This effect emerged even after consideration of important confounding variables such as stressful life events and neurocognitive development.

Discussion: Our results suggest that physical indicators of maturation among Black and Latinx girls may trigger discriminatory treatment from peers and adults. These findings underscore the influence of racist stereotypes applied to young women of color, and their potential to negatively affect youth development.

Keywords: Black; Latinx; Pubertal development; Puberty; Racial discrimination.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Deardorff J, Hoyt LT, Carter R, Shirtcliff EA. Next steps in puberty research: broadening the lens toward understudied populations. Journal of Research on Adolescence. 2019;29(1):133–154. doi:10/g8xr - PMC - PubMed
    1. Mendle J, Turkheimer E, Emery RE. Detrimental psychological outcomes associated with early pubertal timing in adolescent girls. Developmental review. 2007;27(2):151–171. doi:10/c86d25 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Huddleston J, Ge X. Boys at puberty: Psychosocial implications. Gender differences at puberty. Published online 2003:113–134. doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511489716.008 - DOI
    1. Swarr AE, Richards MH. Longitudinal effects of adolescent girls’ pubertal development, perceptions of pubertal timing, and parental relations on eating problems. Developmental psychology. 1996;32(4):636. doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.32.4.636 - DOI
    1. Wu T, Mendola P, Buck GM. Ethnic differences in the presence of secondary sex characteristics and menarche among US girls: the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1988-1994. Pediatrics. 2002;110(4):752–757. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources