Pubertal Development and Physical Victimization in Adolescence

Abstract

Although much research has established a link between pubertal development and adolescent involvement in offending, drug use, and other adverse outcomes, no research has examined whether puberty is associated with experiences of violent physical victimization. This is an unfortunate oversight because researchers are only beginning to understand the range of adverse outcomes associated with puberty—and information on this front bears relevance for public health discussions regarding the consequences of pubertal development. Here, the authors use data from Add Health to examine whether puberty is associated with victimization and whether the effect of puberty on victimization is moderated by peer context (i.e., the proportion of deviant, opposite-sex, and older friends in the peer social network). In addition, the authors examine whether these associations operate similarly or dissimilarly for male and female adolescents. Findings indicate that among both males and females, puberty is associated with victimization net of a series of controls, though the effect is stronger among males. Analyses also indicate that for boys, puberty has a weaker effect when their friendship network has a higher proportion of girls in it. The effect of puberty on victimization was not moderated by peer context variables among females. Future theoretical and empirical research directions are suggested.