8/31/2010 PERMALINK
Early puberty of girls living in unstable environments is caused by survival of the fittest. ITEM: Girls who physically mature earlier tend to start dating, have sexual intercourse at a younger age, and have more sexual partners than girls who develop later. That puts them at risk of sexually transmitted diseases and makes them more likely to have a child while they're still teenagers. These are generally seen as bad things, says Jay Belsky, of Birkbeck University in London, given that many psychologists and doctors think there are right and wrong ways to develop. But he says it makes more sense to look at development the way nature does, from an evolutionary perspective. This leads to the expectation that growing up in a risky, unstable environment, the kind that fosters an insecure rather than secure attachment of infant to mother, should accelerate pubertal maturation thus increasing the chances that one could reproduce before they die.