ORIGINAL ARTICLE Under pressure: human adolescents express a pace-of-life syndrome Andreas Lehmann 1 & Jana A. Eccard 1 & Christiane Scheffler 1 & Ralf H. J. M. Kurvers 2 & Melanie Dammhahn 1 Received: 30 November 2017 /Revised: 5 January 2018 /Accepted: 7 February 2018 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2018 Abstract The pace-of-life syndrome (POLS) hypothesis posits that life-history characteristics, among individual differences in behavior, and physiological traits have coevolved in response to environmental conditions. This hypothesis has generated much research interest because it provides testable predictions concerning the association between the slow-fast life-history continuum and behavioral and physiological traits. Although humans are among the most well-studied species and similar concepts exist in the human literature, the POLS hypothesis has not yet been directly applied to humans. Therefore, we aimed to (i) test predicted relationships between life history, physiology, and behavior in a human population and (ii) better integrate the POLS hypothesis with other similar concepts. Using data of a representative sample of German adolescents, we extracted maturation status for girls (menarche, n = 791) and boys (voice break, n = 486), and a set of health-related risk-taking behaviors and cardiovascular parameters. Maturation status and health-related risk behavior as well as maturation status and cardiovascular physiology covaried in boys and girls. Fast maturing boys and girls had higher blood pressure and expressed more risk-taking behavior than same-aged slow maturing boys and girls, supporting general predictions of the POLS hypothesis. Only some physiological and behavioral traits were positively correlated, suggesting that behavioral and physiological traits might mediate life-history trade-offs differently. Moreover, some aspects of POLS were sex-specific. Overall, the POLS hypothesis shares many similarities with other conceptual frameworks from the human literature and these concepts should be united more thoroughly to stimulate the study of POLS in humans and other animals. Significance statement The pace-of-life syndrome (POLS) hypothesis suggests that life history, behavioral and physiological traits have coevolved in response to environmental conditions. Here, we tested this link in a representative sample of German adolescents, using data from a large health survey (the KIGGs study) containing information on individual age and state of maturity for girls and boys, and a set of health-related risk-taking behaviors and cardiovascular parameters. We found that fast maturing girls and boys had overall higher blood pressure and expressed more risk-taking behavior than same-aged slow maturing girls and boys. Only some behavioral and physiological traits were positively correlated, suggesting that behavioral and physiological traits might mediate life-history trade-offs differently and not necessarily form a syndrome. Our results demonstrate a general link between life history, physiological and behavioral traits in humans, while simulta- neously highlighting a more complex and rich set of relation- ships, since not all relationships followed predictions by the POLS hypothesis. Keywords Adolescence . Humans . Life history . Menarche . Physiology . Risk taking Introduction The pace-of-life syndrome (POLS) hypothesis seeks to char- acterize phenotypic attributes that mediate the trade-off be- tween current and future reproductive success (Réale et al. 2010; Careau and Garland 2012). As such, it extends one of the core trade-offs in life-history theory (Stearns 1989), to Communicated by D. Réale This article is a contribution to the Topical Collection Pace-of-life syn- dromes: a framework for the adaptive integration of behavior, physiology and life-history - Guest Editors: Melanie Dammhahn, Niels J. Dingemanse, Petri T. Niemelä, Denis Réale. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-018-2465-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Andreas Lehmann andreleh@uni-potsdam.de 1 Animal Ecology, University of Potsdam, Maulbeerallee 1, 14469 Potsdam, Germany 2 Center for Adaptive Rationality, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Lentzeallee 94, 14195 Berlin, Germany Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology (2018) 72:57 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-018-2465-y