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AJPH First Look, published online ahead of print May 14, 2009
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99/S2/S460    most recent
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October 2009, Vol 99, No. S2 | American Journal of Public Health S460-S466
© 2009 American Public Health Association
DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2008.149005

RESEARCH AND PRACTICE

Childhood Abuse and Early Menarche: Findings From the Black Women's Health Study

Lauren A. Wise, ScD, Julie R. Palmer, ScD, Emily F. Rothman, ScD and Lynn Rosenberg, ScD

Lauren A. Wise, Julie R. Palmer, and Lynn Rosenberg are with the Slone Epidemiology Center and the Department of Epidemiology, Boston University of Public Health, Boston. Emily F. Rothman is with the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Lauren A. Wise, Slone Epidemiology Center, 1010 Commonwealth Ave, Boston, MA, 02215 (e-mail: lwise{at}slone.bu.edu).

Objectives. We examined the association between childhood abuse and early menarche in a sample of US Black women.

Methods. We conducted multivariable log-binomial regression on data from 35 330 participants in the Black Women's Health Study to estimate risk ratios and 95% confidence intervals for the relation of childhood physical and sexual abuse with early age at menarche (i.e., < 12 years).

Results. In adjusted analyses, sexual abuse was positively associated with early menarche, and the risk of early menarche increased with increasing frequency of sexual abuse incidents. We observed a weak but statistically significant association between physical abuse and early menarche. Associations between sexual abuse and early menarche were stronger when we used a more stringent cutpoint for early menarche (i.e., < 11 years).

Conclusions. Our data suggest an increased risk of early menarche among Black women who experienced childhood sexual abuse. Evidence for an association between childhood physical abuse and early menarche was equivocal.






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