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Child Abuse Leads to Early Puberty!!

While it has long that maltreatment can affect a child’s psychological development, new research indicates that the stress of abuse can impact the physical growth and maturation of Researchers from Pennsylvania State University in the US compared the pubescent trajectories of about 84 females with a sexual abuse history and 89 of their non-abused counter parts.

The subject were tracked from pre puberty to full maturity based on a numeric index of ratings that corresponds with the physical progression of puberty known as Tanner staging.

Researchers focused on breast and pubic hair development as two separate mile markers for pubescent change. Jennie Noll, director of the child Maltreatment Solutions Network and professor of Human development and family studies, and Ian Shalev, Assistant professor of bio behavioral health found that young girls who are exposed to childhood sexual abuse are likely to physically mature and hit puberty at rates 8 to twelve months earlier than their non-abused peers. Their results were published recently in the journal of Adolescent Health.

“Though a year’s difference may seem

trivial in the grand scheme of a life, this accelerated maturation has been linked to concerning consequences, including behavioral and mental health problems and reproductive cancers,” said Noll.

The body is timed so that physical and developmental changes occur in tandem, assuring that as a child physically changes, they have adequate psychological growth to cope with mature contexts. “High stress situations, such as childhood sexual abuse, can lead to increased stress hormones that jump start puberty ahead of its standard biological timeline,” Noll explained. “When physical maturation surpasses psychosocial growth in this way, the mismatch in timing is known as maladaptation.”

The researcher believe they were able to accurately rule out other variables that may have aided in accelerated puberty, pinpointing child sexual abuse and the stress hormones associated with it as a cause for early maturation in young girls. Their findings add to the body of work highlighting the role of stress in puberty, and it is the hope that the research will lead to increased preventive care and psychosocial aid to young women facing the effects of early maturation.

Early puberty can cause a lot of health

problems in children. Some studies have found an association between early puberty and behavior problems; particularly in kids with developmental delays. It can also be all the more stressful for younger kids with early puberty. They might feel awkward about looking different from their peers. Some studies have found a link between early puberty in girls and a slightly increased risk of breast cancer later in life.

According to the statistics, 40 million children are subjected to abuse each year. What is most surprising about child abuse is that it is an embarrassing part of the most developed countries as well. Developed! Are we, really? In United States alone, more than 20,000 cases of child abuse are reported annually. It is an epidemic, which needs global attention.

These are the top eleven nations with the highest rates of child abuse in the world; Australia, United States, Afghanistan, United Kingdom, Russia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, India, Bangladesh, South Africa, Pakistan.

It is very difficult to provide children in different countries with protection from severe forms of child abuse. This is because many governments do little to enforce international labor laws and International humanitarian laws.

Many countries have established laws that uphold traditional laws and customs and do not adhere to international standards of human rights. Governments often take little action in preventing child maltreatment and many even encourage behaviors that are detrimental to the happiness and the well-being of a child.

Countries that are responsible for condoning child maltreatment or continuously place children in hazardous situations usually experience no repercussions for their actions. There is no effective method of enforcing international law, and therefore, countries have the ability to utilize and exploit children for their advancement.

This often occurs in third world or under

developed countries, where children are openly recruited for use in the military. Many countries allow child marriage to occur, in which young girls are married to older men. Many governments around the world do little to end child prostitution. Sarika