A self-report measure of pubertal status: reliability, validity, and initial norms

Puberty is a central process in the complex set of changes that constitutes the transition from childhood to adolescence. Research on the role of pubertal change in this transition has been impeded by the difficulty of assessing puberty in ways acceptable to young adolescents and others involved. Ad...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of youth and adolescence 1988-04, Vol.17 (2), p.117-133
Main Authors: PETERSEN, A. C, CROCKETT, L, RICHARDS, M, BOXER, A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Biological and medical sciences
Developmental psychology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
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Summary:Puberty is a central process in the complex set of changes that constitutes the transition from childhood to adolescence. Research on the role of pubertal change in this transition has been impeded by the difficulty of assessing puberty in ways acceptable to young adolescents and others involved. Addressing this problem, this paper describes and presents norms for a selfreport measure of pubertal status. The measure was used twice annually over a period of three years in a longitudinal study of 335 young adolescent boys and girls. Data on a longitudinal subsample of 253 subjects are reported. The scale shows good reliability, as indicated by coefficient alpha. In addition, several sources of data suggest that these reports are valid. The availability of such a measure is important for studies, such as those based in schools, in which more direct measures of puberty may not be possible.
ISSN:0047-2891
1573-6601
DOI:10.1007/bf01537962