EARLY PUBERTY, DRUG USE LINKED

The UF Study Found That Girls Who Mature Earlier Have A Tendency To
Experiment With Drugs Earlier

University of Florida study has found that middle school girls who hit
puberty early are more likely to experiment with drugs and alcohol at a
younger age than their late-blooming friends.

Julia Graber, a UF psychology professor who conducted the minority- focused
study, was scheduled to announce her findings Saturday at an annual meeting
of the Society for Prevention Research in Washington, D.C.

The study, based on an on-going survey of 1,225 sixth-, seventh- and
eighth-grade girls in New York City public and parochial schools, is the
first of its kind to focus on urban minorities, Graber said.

"Most adolescents wait to experiment with drugs and alcohol at an older
age, but those who mature early physically have a tendency to experiment
much earlier," Graber said. "These are the ones that worry us because they
most likely are not mature enough mentally to handle experimentation
responsibly."

She said it is important to identify this as a factor that might put girls
at risk for early drug use and make sure parents are aware of it.

"Because they look older, they start hanging out with friends who look
similar, but are actually older and may not be doing good things,
influencing these girls down the same path of drug use and delinquency,"
Graber said.

It's also possible that girls who mature early lack good decision- making
skills needed to handle the challenges faced during adolescence, she said.

The study found that by the eighth grade, girls who said they had matured
early were more than twice as likely to have tried alcohol, and more than
three times as likely to have tried marijuana, as girls who said they
matured on time or late.

"Part of it may be the perception that to be more mature is to do some of
these things," Graber said. "One of the ways you validate your sense that
you look older and feel older, is by engaging in these sort of behaviors,
such as hanging out with older peers."

In the survey, early maturing girls were more likely to claim their friends
used alcohol and drugs, and were less likely to think their friends would
disapprove if they found out they had been drinking alcohol, Graber said.

"When girls perceive their friends as feeling more positive toward these
kind of behaviors, it provides them with a peer group where it may be OK to
start drinking more regularly or experimenting with drugs," Graber said.

She said similar research has focused primarily on suburban white girls and
few studies have looked at urban minority populations.

Forty-five percent of survey respondents were black, 33 percent were
Hispanic and the remaining 21 percent were white or represented another
ethnic group, Graber said.

It is important to include these minority groups because puberty often
differs among races, Graber said. Black girls who reach puberty between
ages 8 and 9, tend to mature earlier than whites, who begin between the
ages of 9 and 10, she said.

Graber said the early maturing girls' attitudes toward drugs didn't differ
much from the other girls. She said most have fairly negative views,
believing that drugs are bad and that they won't make you popular.

Both groups claim to have good decision-making skills regarding drugs and
alcohol, however early maturing girls said they were more likely to take
risks, she said.