Doctorate in Clinical Psychology Main Research Portfolio

: 1) A Review of the Conceptualisation and Measurement of Pubertal Timing in Relation to Child and Adolescent Mental Health; 2) Evaluating Service Access in a newly formed Mental Health Integrated Network Team; 3) Do Callous-Unemotional Traits Moderate the Relationship between Pubertal Timing and Delinquency in Adolescents? Findings from a Longitudinal Cohort Study.

Abstract

Adolescence represents a period of bio-psycho-social development for young people. Puberty is a significant indicator of development during this time, indicating sexual maturity. Research suggests that those developing differently to the normative trajectory of puberty7may be at risk of a plethora of negative psychological and behavioural outcomes. One of these may be delinquency; that being anti-social behaviour which extends beyond normative rule-breaking in adolescence to persistent, socially disruptive or criminal actions. Similarly, callous-unemotional traits, regarded as the downward extension of the affective element of psychopathy in children, have been associated with delinquency. Some previous research has explored whether callous-unemotional traits might accentuate the risk between pubertal timing and delinquency. As such, it was hypothesised that callous-unemotional traits would moderate the relationship between pubertal timing and adolescent delinquency, using data from a sample of boys and girls within the Millennium Cohort Study. Prior delinquency at age 11 emerged as the most robust predictor of delinquency at age 14. Early pubertal timing predicted increased levels of delinquency at age 14 for boys, and late pubertal timing predicted lower levels of delinquency in both sexes. CU traits were independently positively associated with delinquency across sexes. CU traits did not predict delinquency, nor moderate the association between pubertal timing and delinquency for boys or girls, in the presence of covariates. Future research may benefit from integrating objective measures of puberty, such as pubertal tempo, and peak height velocity, alongside influences of delinquency such as early life adversity.

Date of Award	10 Sept 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bath
Supervisor	Jennifer Allen (Supervisor)