Precocious puberty would be responsible for a younger sexual initiation and early pregnancies, according to the results of a study published in the medical journal PLOS ONE. It would also promote contagion to STI.
Researchers at Columbia University in the United States performed a meta-analysis on the link between precocious puberty and adolescent sexual and reproductive health.
These included observing early sexual experiences, early pregnancy and childbirth, sexual risk-taking and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.
Researchers have also studied the link between age at precocious puberty and early marriage. Two of the studies were carried out in Malawi. The rest are in South Africa, Nepal, Jamaica, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, India and Bangladesh.
Precocious puberty alters sexual activity
Overall, the early puberty was associated with a sexual initiation, a first pregnancy and an earlier first birth.
Researchers observed a 28% increased likelihood of having sex before the age of 16 and 14, to a 55% rate of having sex before the age of 16. This rate is 27% for periods occurring between 14 and 15 years old and 4% for periods occurring at 16 years and over.
The study helped to highlight that early periods are linked to early marriage. For each additional year of the age of the first period, the age of marriage is delayed by 9 months.
“This underscores the need to better understand the cultural and regional differences in the effect of age at puberty on the age of marriage,” said Dr. Sommer, author of the study. this reinforces the importance of including the age of puberty in many other studies “.
Studies from several high-income countries have shown that precocious puberty is also associated with various psychosocial factors, including delinquency, substance use and sexual abuse. depression, which have implications for sexual and reproductive health.
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