BEHAVIORAL CORRELATES OF ENDOCRINE DISORDERS IN CHILDREN

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This project encompasses a series of studies examining the behavioral correlates of endocrine disorders in young patients, including children with precocious puberty, Turner's syndrome, and growth hormone deficiency. A first objective was to determine whether these children are at risk for problems in psychosocial adjustment. In a sample of children with precocious puberty, we reported that these children do, in fact, show an above-normal incidence of a variety of adjustment problems. A current objective is to ascertain the factor(s) responsible for this finding. Analyses during the past fiscal year have focused on the combined influence of age of onset, duration of symptoms before treatment was begun, and pretreatment medical status as indicated by bone age, relative height, pubic hair stage and the levels of gonadotropins and sex steroids. In general these factors had a synergistic effect, i.e., their influence was stronger when taking into account the other factors than when looking at their influence individually.