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Children who reach puberty earlier have poorer mental health than their peers, according to a new study.  What's more, researchers found these psychological problems triggered by early onset of puberty may continue throughout adolescence.

The study published April 3 in the Journal of Adolescent Health followed almost 3,500 children from age four through 11 who were part of the Longitudinal Study of Australian children. Researchers interviewed parents of their children's development and his or her puberty transition.

Researchers found that boys who entered puberty by eight to nine years of age had greater behavioral problems and poorer emotional and social adjustment from when they were four or five years old. Researchers found that this pattern continued through to early adolescents.

Researchers found that girls with early puberty had more difficulties in emotional and social adjustment from early childhood, but not the behavioral problems found in boys.

Researchers found that these differences remained even after accounting for other factors like ethnicity, body mass index and family socioeconomic situation.

Professor George Patton of the Murdoch Children's Research Institute in Melbourne said that the findings indicate that children with early puberty are "doubly disadvantaged," according to abc.net.au.

"We'd assumed that kids going into early puberty, particularly girls, had higher rates of mental health problems than their peers," Patton told ABC.

"What this new study adds is that even well before puberty these kids are doing far less well in terms of their emotional world," he explained. "They're vulnerable, and they carry that vulnerability into the difficult change that puberty brings."

Researcher Dr. Fiona Mensah said that the findings provide new evidence of pre-existing and persistent early childhood differences in socio-emotional well-being of children who experience early puberty.

"There is a heightened risk for behavior and emotional problems during puberty; and children who reach puberty earlier than their peers have more of these difficulties in adolescence," she explained in a news release, adding that the link between early onset puberty and poorer adolescent mental health may be caused by developmental processes that start well before the actual onset of puberty.

Patton says that the new findings support a "life course" hypothesis, which states that differences in pubertal timing and childhood adjustment may be party caused by genetic and environmental factors early in life. He says that understanding the reason behind early puberty may also provide insight into the origins of emotional and behavioral problems of children and adolescents.