A self-administered rating scale for pubertal development
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to assess the reliability and validity of a new self-rating scale to measure children's pubertal status without pictorial representations or interviews. The scale is an adaptation of an interview-based puberty-rating scale by Petersen, and included scores for each of five items rating physical development, an overall maturation measure, and a categorical maturation score designed to be similar to Tanner staging categories. Each measure was obtained from independent ratings by students and parents, and a 3-point categorical scale was also obtained from teachers. Subjects included 698 5th- and 6th-grade students (323 boys and 375 girls) from 61 schools and their parents and teachers. Fifth-grade students rated themselves and were rated by parents as less mature than 6th graders; 6th-grade girls were consistently rated more mature than boys of the same age. Significant correlations were found between parents and students for all of the measures for 6th-graders and 5th-grade girls and several measures for 5th-grade boys. This new scale is a useful tool for assessing pubertal status in settings that require noninvasive measures.
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The results for self-reported pubertal changes concur with prior research on pubertal development showing that puberty starts earlier in girls than boys.
“The results for selfreported pubertal changes concur with prior research on pubertal development showing that puberty starts earlier in girls than boys (Carskadon and Acebo, 1993;Sisk and Foster, 2004;Shirtcliff et al., 2009).”
From Longitudinal Changes in Adolescent Risk-Taking: A Comprehensive Study of Neural Responses to Rewards, Pubertal Development, and Risk-Taking Behavior (2015) · cites this paper as Carskadon and Acebo, 1993
The Puberty Development Scale has strong agreement with physical exam assessments (r=0.86) and good reliability.
“The PDS has strong agreement with physical exam assessments (r=0.86) and good reliability.26”
From Health and School Outcomes During Children's Transition Into Adolescence (2013) · cites this paper as [26]
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“This was consistent with sex differences in the onset of pubertal maturation (Carskadon and Acebo, 1993).”
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“Pubertal status will be measured using a puberty questionnaire [83].”
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- Authors
- Carskadon, M. A., & Acebo, C.
- Affiliations
- Brown University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Carskadon, Mary A.
- ORCID
- Carskadon, Mary A.
- Venue
- Journal of Adolescent Health
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 1993-05
- Volume
- 14
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 190-195
- ISSN
- 1054-139X (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1989485530
- Cited by
- 754
- References
- 9
- Citations by year
- 2026: 21 · 2025: 46 · 2024: 40 · 2023: 58 · 2022: 46 · 2021: 60 · 2020: 81 · 2019: 51 · 2018: 34 · 2017: 45 · 2016: 34 · 2015: 32 · 2014: 43 · 2013: 31 · 2012: 33
- FWCI
- 0.83
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Adolescent Health (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH045945, NIMH MH45945)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Reproductive Medicine › Hypothalamic control of reproductive hormones
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Human Health and Disease
- Keywords
- pubertal development, self-report scale, Tanner stages, physical maturation, parent-child agreement, teacher ratings, children's self-assessment, sex differences in maturation
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Child, Data Collection, Evaluation Studies as Topic, Female, Humans, Human Development, Male, Parents, Puberty, Surveys and Questionnaires, Sex Characteristics, Teaching, Reproducibility of Results
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