The Relations of Pubertal Status to Intrapersonal Changes in Young Adolescents

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relations between pubertal development and adolescents’ perceptions of their physical and emotional states. Two research questions were posed: (a) What are the effects of pubertal status upon satisfaction with appearance and mood states of the adolescent; and, (b) What are the patterns of those pubertal effects in sixth, seventh, and eighth grades? A nonclinical group of adolescents (N = 253) was selected from two cohorts and was followed from sixth through eighth grade. Multiple measures were used to assess satisfaction with appearance and mood states. Signifi cant multivariate fi ndings were limited to seventh and eighth grades. For satisfaction with appearance in girls, there were signifi cant multivariate effects for pubertal status in both grades with the salient variable being satisfaction with weight. Girls who were more physically mature reported being less satisfi ed with their weight. For moods in seventh grade boys, the multivariate effect was signifi cant for pubertal status with the salient variables being Impulse Control and Emotional Tone. Pubertal boys rated themselves higher, that is better on Impulse Control and Emotional Tone. Other signifi cant univariate effects and polynomial trends are also discussed. Early adolescence is a developmental period in which multiple and often simultaneous changes occur within the individual and in several social contexts important to young adolescents (e.g., Hamburg, 1974; Petersen, 1987). Perhaps the most dramatic changes The research reported in this paper was supported by grant MH 30252138142 from the National Institute of Mental Health to A.C. Petersen. Contributions by the fi rst author were made, in part, through support from the Department of Health and Human Services, National Research Service Award #I-F31-NR05965 from the National Center for Nursing Research.