Professor Bruce J. Ellis and Jacqueline M. Tither have published a study in the journal “Developmental Psychology” about the affects on girls growing up without biological fathers.  The study explores many theories on why girls in divorced families tend to go through puberty at a younger age than their peers who have intact families.

Many researchers have proposed theories as to why this phenomenon happens, including if absent fathers cause early puberty, whether genetic links have an effect or environmental factors, like poverty, cause family stress and puberty.  It is important to understand what causes early puberty because it can help health officials work on the issues that come with it.  For example, women with early puberty are a risk of early pregnancy and breast cancer.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 16th, 2008 at 3:46 pm and is filed under Divorce Law. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.