Article
Pre-menarche Pubertal Development Following Unique Form of Immigration: The Case of Girls Adopted from China
Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
(2015)
Abstract
Our study tested the hypothesis that drastic
social-cultural change has an impact on girls’ pre-menarche
pubertal development. We focused on a unique group
of Chinese immigrants who migrated out of China in
infancy through international adoption. Our sample included
298 Chinese girls who were 7.3–11.1 years in 2011
(Mean = 8.8, SD = 0.9) and were adopted at 7–24 months
(Mean = 12.6, SD = 3.4). We found that 34 % showed at
least one of four signs of pubertal development: Growth
spurt, body fat increase, breast development, and body hair.
Logistic regression analyses showed that the odds of
growth spurt was raised by the girls’ age in 2011, behavior
problems in 2005, but lowered by the adoptive families’
household income; the odds of body fat increase in 2011
was raised by the adopted Chinese girls’ weight in 2007
and behavior problems in 2005, but was lowered by the
adoptive mother’s education level; the odds for breast
development in 2011 was raised by the girls’ age in 2011,
weight in 2007, and behavior problems in 2009. For body
hair, none of the factors predicted the odds. Prevalence of
precocious puberty, based on the criterion of breast
development before 8 years, was 3.5 %. Overall, our study
suggests that the pre-menarche pubertal development of
adopted Chinese girls may be slightly advanced but also is
affected by factors that affect non-adopted girls’ pubertal
development.
Keywords
- Adopted girls,
- Pre-menarche pubertal development,
- Precocious puberty
Disciplines
Publication Date
2015
DOI
10.1007/s10903-013-9908-3
Citation Information
Linda A. Camras and Tony Xing Tan. "Pre-menarche Pubertal Development Following Unique Form of Immigration: The Case of Girls Adopted from China" Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health Vol. 17 Iss. 1 (2015) p. 232 - 238 ISSN: 1557-1912 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/linda_camras/56/