Pubertal timing and depressive symptom among primary and junior middle school students in urban Chongqing

Objective To explore relationship between pubertal timing and depressive symptoms among primary and junior middle school students in urban Chongqing.Methods Totally,3 351 students from 8 schools including four primary schools and four junior schools were selected via stratified cluster sampling in urban Chongqing.Pubertal Development Scale (PDS) and Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) were used to assess pubertal timing and depressive symptoms,respectively.Results The prevalence of depressive symptoms was 25.1%,signicant differences were found in grade (x2=11.098,P =0.001),place of residence (x2 =5.446,P=0.020),economic status (x2 =88.941,P<0.01),family relationship (x2 =286.346,P<0.01),body perception (x2 =38.089,P<0.01) and academic performance (x2 =261.513,P<0.01).After controlling for grade,economic status,family relationship and other covariates,early pubertal timing were correlated with more depressive symptoms among boys (OR =1.406,95% CI:1.039,1.902),while late pubertal timing among girls related with less depressive symptoms (OR=0.632,95%CI:0.433,0.924).Boys and girls with early or late pubertal timing showed higher depressive symptoms than normal pubertal timing peers.Conclusion Depressive symptom among primary and junior middle school students is relative high in urban Chongqing,early or delayed pubertal timing both closely relates with depressive symptoms.