Professional paper
Suitability of Several Subjective Measures of Pubertal Maturation for Application in Non-Clinical Research on Adolescent Development
Gordana KERESTEŠ
; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Zagreb
Irma BRKOVIĆ
; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Zagreb
Gordana KUTEROVAC JAGODIĆ
; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Zagreb
Abstract
The aim of the study was to assess the suitability of several
subjective measures of pubertal maturation for application in
psychological and other non-medical studies of adolescent
development. In a sample of preadolescents and young
adolescents and their parents, self- and parental-assessments
of relative pubertal status, as well as reports about
child’s height and weight were collected. For girls, data on
menstrual status and age at menarche was also obtained.
Children also completed the Pubertal Development Scale
(PDS, Petersen et al., 1988). Results have shown that
different measures of pubertal maturation are interrelated,
but the strength of the relationship indicates that they are not
interchangeable. Assessments of the same indicator of
pubertal development obtained from different informants are
strongly correlated and, for the research purposes, can be
used as mutually alternative. Sex differences in measures of
physical maturation, as well as maturational trends for boys
and girls of different age, are in concordance with the trends
found in previous studies, showing that the used measures
are valid indicators of pubertal maturation. PDS proved to be
a valid and reliable measure of pubertal development of
Croatian adolescents. The need to include measures of
pubertal maturation in research on adolescents’
development was emphasized in the discussion.
Keywords
puberty; absolute pubertal status; pubertal timing (relative pubertal status); self-ratings; parental ratings; PDS
Hrčak ID:
62625
URI
Publication date:
23.12.2010.
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