Pubertal development during early adolescence is modestly associated with individual differences in slowly developing inhibitory control of impulses—an aspect of self-regulation associated with reward-seeking behaviors such as the onset and frequency of sexual activity. However, this effect may be much stronger in resource-poor environments. On the basis of life-history and r/K-selection theories, we tested the hypothesis that early pubertal timing would be more strongly associated with less mature neurocognitive inhibitory control in lower-income environments. In an economically diverse Appalachian sample (N = 157; 138 with complete neuroimaging data) of 14-year-olds (52% male), inhibitory control was measured using the multisource-interference task during functional MRI. Results showed that among poor youths only, more advanced puberty for one’s age was linked with lower inhibitory control for the neural but not the behavioral measure. This finding has implications regarding poverty, neurocognitive development, and health-risk behaviors in adolescence.

中文翻译：

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贫困与青春期：青春期过渡过程中抑制控制的神经认知研究

青春期早期的青春期发育与缓慢发展的冲动抑制控制的个体差异有一定关系，这是与寻求奖励行为（例如性活动的开始和频率）相关的自我调节的一个方面。然而，在资源匮乏的环境中，这种效应可能会更强。根据生活史和 r/K 选择理论，我们检验了这样的假设：在低收入环境中，青春期提前与不太成熟的神经认知抑制控制有更密切的相关性。在经济多样化的阿巴拉契亚 14 岁青少年样本（N = 157；138 具有完整的神经影像数据）（52% 男性）中，使用功能 MRI 期间的多源干扰任务测量抑制控制。结果表明，仅在贫困青少年中，与同龄人相比，青春期提前与神经抑制控制较低有关，但与行为测量无关。这一发现对贫困、神经认知发展和青春期健康风险行为具有影响。