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Introduction: While peer delinquency is a known mediator between early pubertal timing and externalizing behaviors, little is known about factors that could protect against the adverse influence of peer delinquency. This study assesses the possible moderating role of cognitive flexibility, which is one index of executive functioning that facilitates flexible and adaptive responses to challenging situations. We assessed the interactive influence of peer delinquency and cognitive flexibility in the association between pubertal maturation and externalizing behaviors in boys and girls. Method: Participants were 220 adolescents (111 boys) from the United States, between the ages of 11 and 16 years (M = 13.2, SD = 1.53) who participated in the Adolescent Emotion Study (AES). Results: Findings from the cross-sectional path modeling analyses provided evidence for the mediating role of peer delinquency for boys and girls, indicating that early maturing adolescents tend to affiliate with delinquent peers, which in turn exacerbates externalizing problems. Additionally, the moderating role of cognitive flexibility was also demonstrated for both boys and girls. Region of significance tests revealed that relatively well-developed cognitive flexibility skills could protect against the adverse influences of peer delinquency, whereas lower levels could exacerbate those negative influences. Conclusion: These findings suggest that involvement with deviant peers increases vulnerability for both early maturing boys and girls. Additionally, cognitive flexibility was an important moderating factor for adolescents, such that youths with less developed skills would be at a higher risk for psychopathology, whereas those with better development could be protected.

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Pubertal synchrony is defined as the degree of coherence to which puberty-related body changes (e.g., breast development, growth spurt, voice change, underarm hair growth) are coordinated. During the pubertal transition, youth’s body parts grow asynchronously, making each youth’s physical appearance unique. Physical appearance is a known correlate of youth’s psychosocial functioning during adolescence, but we know little about how pubertal asynchrony plays a role in their peer relationships. Using data from an adoption study (the Early Growth and Development Study; n = 413; 237 boys, 176 girls), this study examined the effect of pubertal asynchrony on peer victimization. Results revealed sex-specific effects of pubertal asynchrony; pubertal asynchrony was associated with a higher risk of peer victimization for girls but a lower risk for boys. Findings highlight the intersection of physical development and social context in understanding youth’s experiences of puberty.