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Sex abuse may trigger early puberty, according to a new study.

Experts said the latest finding spells double trouble because early puberty increase the risk of having emotional problems.

"Early maturing girls are already more vulnerable to mood problems than other kids, but this risk seems to be magnified for girls with histories of sexual abuse," said Jane Mendle, assistant professor of human development in Cornell's College of Human Ecology, according to Medical Xpress.

"Girls who reach puberty ahead of peers are substantially more likely to be targets of peer sexual harassment and receive a high number of unsolicited comments on their bodies," added Mendle.

The latest study involved 100 girls in foster care, all of whom had experienced maltreatment (physical abuse, sexual abuse or neglect) early in childhood.

While the study revealed no direct effects of abuse on girls' emotional symptoms, it linked the number of sexual abuse instances, but not physical abuse or neglect instances, to earlier pubertal timing.

Researchers explained that girls who experienced earlier puberty had more symptoms of depression, anxiety and social withdrawal.

Researchers said the findings suggest that girls' emotional problems were directly related to their experiences at puberty, and not to what happened to them early in life.

"In addition to individual interventions [to help early maturing girls], another target might be our collective social response to early puberty," said Mendle.

"Peers, caregivers, teachers and other adults have a tendency to react to children based on their observable - rather than chronological - age. Those reactions can be very powerful for how girls respond and interpret the challenges of growing up."

The findings are published in the Journal of Research on Adolescence.