Psychological Distress amid Change: Role Disruption in Girls during the Adolescent Transition

The present study investigates the underlying cognitive, social, and behavioral tendencies that may explain why some girls are more likely to perceive the adolescent transition as disrupting and difficult, otherwise characterized as role disruption. It was hypothesized that individual differences in rumination, rejection sensitivity, peer problems, and pubertal status would contribute to why some girls perceived more role disruption during the transition from childhood to adolescence, and that girls who reported more role disruption would be at increased risk for subsequent depression. N = 188 girls (Mage = 11.70 years) reported on their level of pubertal development, rumination, rejection sensitivity, peer problems, and depressive symptoms at three time points approximately 4 months apart. Structural equation modeling results suggested that baseline levels of rumination and angry rejection sensitivity explained perceptions of role disruption at Time 2 more than overall levels of pubertal development, and that greater role disruption predicted subsequent depressive symptoms at Time 3. These findings highlight the importance of individual tendencies in understanding who will find early adolescence challenging.