Pubertal Self-Efficacy: A Novel Protective Factor for Adolescent Mental Health During Puberty

As adolescents navigate the complex transition of puberty, understanding factors that can buffer against psychopathology becomes increasingly important. This study introduces pubertal self-efficacy, defined as adolescents' confidence in their ability to manage the challenges associated with puberty, as a novel protective factor for youth. We hypothesized that higher levels of pubertal self-efficacy would mitigate associations of both general and puberty-specific stress with depressive and anxiety symptoms.

Participants comprised N = 124 students enrolled in a public middle school (M_age = 13.4, SD = 0.7; 52.4% boys; 65.3% White) in the Southeastern United States. Participants completed measures of pubertal self-efficacy, perceived pubertal stress, general perceived stress, depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and pubertal development status. Advanced multivariate regression techniques with bootstrapped standard errors and marginal effects were used for hypothesis testing.

Consistent with previous literature, youth who reported higher levels of general and puberty-specific stress also reported more symptoms of depression and anxiety. However, we found pubertal self-efficacy significantly attenuated the relationships of both general and puberty-specific stress on symptoms of both depression and anxiety. Importantly, pubertal self-efficacy was unrelated to youths' level of pubertal maturation, suggesting that pubertal self-efficacy is a distinct psychological resource independent of pubertal status. These findings offer initial promise in guiding consideration of pubertal self-efficacy in adolescent mental health, particularly as a malleable target for interventions aimed at reducing psychopathology during this sensitive developmental period.