The Physical, Cognitive, and Social-Emotional Effects of Precocious Puberty

Introduction First, puberty must be defined as the complicated process of boys and girls sexually maturing to be able and ready to reproduce physically, cognitively, and socially/emotionally. During this time girls (between the ages of eight and fourteen) and boys (between the ages of nine and fifteen) bodies release hormones causing a multitude of changes. Precocious puberty is the abnormally early onset of puberty, before age eight in girls and nine in boys. This early start of maturation for girls

2014; Mendle, 2014a in Ullsperger, & Nikolas, 2017). Hayward (2003), suggests that [females] in earlier pubertal timing appear at a specific risk for potential eating disorders during adolescence, in which timing and adjustment effects may be intensified by “precocious dating and strained family relationships, which may or may not be seen as consequences of early maturation” (Hayward, 2003). Interestingly, poor body image experienced by early-maturing girls are comparable to late maturing boys.

1. Chapter 9, “Adolescence” Body and Mind,” section Puberty explains the physical and mental changes that teenagers go through, it’s the state in which they transition from children to young adults, incapable of completely just one or the other (Berger, 315). The first changes of puberty, physically-wise, begins around the ages of 9 – 13 years’ old for both boys and girls, which include facial and body hair, deepening of the voice, and of course body growth; such as the hands, feet, face, and private

result in children’s low participation in social activities. It is said that social skills are learned at early age. However TV is a one-way communication system, so children can not learn the necessary communication skills to make friends. They will more likely to be shy in making new friends because they don’t know how to interact with them. This will lower their self-esteem making it much harder for them to engage in activities. According to experts, if social activities are limited, parents are putting

The Efficacy of Cognitive-Behavioral Based Therapies for Childhood Sexual Abuse Survivors Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is loosely defined as the use of “persuasion, enticement, and other inducements to coerce a child to engage in sexually explicit conduct or simulation of sexual acts” (Wilson, 2010, p. 56). While all CSA is austere, the form and severity level of CSA falls on a spectrum ranging from non-contact CSA (lowest severity) to non-penetrative contact CSA (moderate severity) to penetrative

to others (for example, physical aggression, verbal abuse, intimidation, coercion). Multiple factors are associated with harmful behaviours, including: • Individual factors: prior history of violence, aggression, or self harm, diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder, or oppositional defiant disorder, high impulsivity, substance use, lack of empathy, psychosis, early puberty and precocious sexualized behaviour (particularly in girls). • Social factors: school difficulties