Maria I New

Idiopathic Precocious Puberty in Girls: Psychiatric Follow-up in Adolescence

Precocious puberty leads to conspicuous discrepancy between physique and chronological age associated with an array of psychosocial sequelae. Clinical case reports have suggested considerable psychopathology in some children with this condition which may continue into teenage and young adulthood. We present data from a first systematic controlled follow-up study of 16 adolescent girls with a history of idiopathic precocious puberty compared to closely pair-matched adolescent control subjects of comparable pubertal status and normal pubertal history. The results show little difference in body image, self-regard, and definite psychiatric diagnoses but slightly increased psychopathologic symptomatology, especially in the areas of conduct problems, and psychosomatic complaints usually associated with menstruation. We conclude that idiopathic precocious puberty in girls is associated with a long-term risk of minor psychopathologic symptomatology.

Idiopathic precocious puberty in girls: Psychosexual development

A promising model syndrome for the examination of the role of physical maturation in the development of female sexuality is idiopathic precocious puberty (IPP). In this first controlled study of psychosexual development in IPP females, 16 females between 13 and 20 years of age with a history of IPP were compared to 16 control subjects with a history of normal puberty pair-matched to the index subjects on the basis of sex, race, age, socioeconomic level, and menarcheal status. The psychosexual history and the current psychosexual status were assessed by a systematic half-structured interview. The IPP females on average passed the psychosexual milestones at an earlier age than their normal maturing peers, with a particularly early onset of masturbation. Those who were sociosexually active tended to report a higher total orgasmic outlet and a higher sex drive. There was no increase in homosexuality among IPP girls. The timing of puberty has a (modest) influence on psychosexual development in females.

Psychosexual Quality of Life in Adult Intersexuality: The Example of Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH)

A fundamental aspect of the quality of life in adolescence and adulthood is psychosexuality. It comprises three interrelated aspects: (1) gender role behavior and gender identity; (2) sexual life, with its four components of sexual orientation, courtship, partner bonding, and genital sexuality; (3) reproduction and parenting. Intersexuality tends to affect all three aspects of psychosexuality. In this chapter, we will use data on the syndrome of classical congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) in 46,XX individuals with 21-hydroxylase deficiency as an illustrative example.