STUDYING LINKS BETWEEN HORMONES AND NEGATIVE AFFECT - MODELS AND MEASURES

In this article, we consider eight models for the study of pubertal change as it is associated with adolescent affect and behavior. In keeping with a mental health perspective, our focus is on indices of psychological adjustment-depressive affect, aggressive affect, eating problems. All of the models speak to activational effects on the system, as hormonal and physical changes in late childhood and early adolescence are investigated. The models delineate possible links between hormones and negative affective experiences (e.g., depressive and aggressive affect) and include: direct hormonal effects; indirect effects via reactivity or secondary sexual characteristics along with bidirectional effects within these paths; links to social events and perceptions of puberty, again including bidirectional interactions with hormonal changes; and, finally, how pubertal and social events set individuals upon a developmental trajectory that influences subsequent affect and adjustment. Even though direct hormonal effects tend to be small, the fact that they have demonstrated stability and have interacted with psychological and social factors implicates hormonal changes at puberty not only in the development of depressive and aggressive affect but also for several other, less studied, behaviors.