The associations between menarcheal status and several child-rearing and outcome variables were examined for mother-daughter and father-daughter dyads. All variables were assessed with questionnaires as an extension of earlier observational studies. Analyses were conducted via multiple regression analyses wherein menarcheal status was treated as a continuous variable and was entered into the regression equation as a set of power polynomial terms. The results indicated that most of the significant relations occurred for the mother-daughter dyad, and most of these relations were curvilinear. When menarche occurs at or around the modal time, changes in parent-child relations may be best thought of as temporary perturbations, but when menarche occurs early the effects may persist.
The research reported here was funded by Father Flanagan's Boys Home, Inc., and by a grant to the senior author from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, 
Family Relations in Early Adolescence.
Received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Harvard University.
Received his M.S. from Virginia Commonwealth University.
Received her M.S. in counseling psychology from Virginia Commonwealth University.
Received his M.S. from the University of Nebraska.
She received her Ph.D. in developmental psychology from the Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Cornell University.