The longitudinal association between pubertal timing and aggression in adolescence: Mediated and moderated by popularity

Abstract

According to the off-time hypothesis, early and late maturing adolescents are at higher risk for developing aggression than normal maturers. The present longitudinal study examined whether early and late pubertal timing led to more aggression than normal puberty, and investigated whether this was mediated and/or moderated by perceived and sociometric popularity. Data from the Social Network Analysis of Risk behavior in Early Adolescence (SNARE) project was used. Adolescents in the sample (n=1,589) ranged from 11 to 15 years (Mage=13.02), and were first- and second-grade students in secondary school. Aggression and popularity were measured using sociometric measurement, and pubertal timing by self-report. Results from multivariate linear regression analyses indicated total mediation for perceived popularity on the association with early puberty and aggression. However, for late puberty and sociometric popularity, no mediation-effects were found. No moderation was found from popularity. Findings of this study partially support the off-time hypothesis, since only early puberty predicted more aggression. The results indicated that intervention- and prevention-programs for aggression should target early maturers and lower levels of perceived popularity.