# Disentangling associations between pubertal development, healthy activity behaviors, and sex in adolescent social networks

## TL;DR

This study explores how puberty, physical activity, and sleep influence friendships among adolescents, finding that similar pubertal development and behaviors increase the likelihood of friendships.

## Contribution

The study introduces sex-stratified models showing how pubertal timing affects friendship formation differently in girls.

## Key findings

- Friendships are more likely between youth with similar pubertal development, physical activity, and sleep.
- Girls are more likely to form friendships with peers who have a similar age at menarche.
- Tailoring puberty education to friendship groups could reduce stigma and improve health behaviors.

## Abstract

With the onset of puberty, youth begin to choose their social environments and develop health-promoting habits, making it a vital period to study social and biological factors contextually. An important question is how pubertal development and behaviors such as physical activity and sleep may be differentially linked with youths’ friendships. Cross-sectional statistical network models that account for interpersonal dependence were used to estimate associations between three measures of pubertal development and youth friendships at two large US schools drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. Whole-network models suggest that friendships are more likely between youth with similar levels of pubertal development, physical activity, and sleep. Sex-stratified models suggest that girls’ friendships are more likely given a similar age at menarche. Attention to similar pubertal timing within friendship groups may offer inclusive opportunities for tailored developmental puberty education in ways that reduce stigma and improve health behaviors.