Study links dysfunctional dads to early puberty: A University of Arizona study says young girls are starting puberty earlier because of their dysfunctional fathers. The study found that young girls who were exposed to the stresses (i.e. drug and alcohol abuse) of their dads, but then had a better home life if the dad left the house, got their periods a year earlier than their sisters who lived with the father throughout their teen years. What influenced early menstruation was not that the girls lived with an abusive father, but that the situation had changed or improved once he left home.