Adolescent sexual maturation is staged using Tanner criteria assessed by clinicians, parents, or adolescents. The physiology of sexual maturation is driven by gonadal hormones. We investigate Tanner stage progression as a function of increasing gonadal hormone concentration and compare performances of different raters. Fifty-six boys (mean age,…

Age at menarche is critical in research and clinical settings, yet there is a dearth of studies examining its reliability in adolescents. We examined age at menarche during adolescence, specifically, (a) average method reliability across 3 years, (b) test-retest reliability between time points and methods, (c) intraindividual variability of…

Since the early 1980s, the focus on the importance of puberty to adolescent development has continued with variability in the methodology selected to measure puberty. To capture the relevant and important issues regarding the measurement of puberty in the last decade, this paper will address (1) the neuroendocrine aspects of puberty and its…

The relationship between morningness/eveningness (M/E) and morning-to-afternoon cortisol ratio, pubertal timing, and antisocial behavior was examined in 111 girls and boys ages 8 to 13 years. Cortisol levels showed a significant increase after awakening and declined thereafter (p less than .05). Eveningness was related to a composite measure of…

A comparison of parent and adolescent subjects' ratings of the adolescent subjects' pubertal stage with a nurse practitioner's ratings indicated that adolescent and parent ratings of pubertal development can be used when precise assessment is not required. For questions requiring absolute accuracy, ratings by trained health care personnel are…

This article addresses pragmatic issues regarding the assessment of puberty in research on adolescent health and development. Because pubertal processes have a major effect on physical, psychological, and social development, we posit that the assessment of pubertal status is at least as important as the specification of age for characterizing…

Compared hormone concentrations in 52 pre- and postmenarcheal girls to determine if they fit a dichotomous model of pubertal development surrounding menarche and to study methodological issues of variability in self-reports of menarche. Found discrepancies in reporting the age of menarche and great overlap in hormones between pre- and…

Studied whether pubertal timing by self-report (SR), parent report (PR), or physical examination predicted the same aspects of adjustment and behavior problems. Findings for 52 girls, 56 boys, and their parents show that pubertal timing by SR and PR did not always provide the same level of prediction as did physical examination. (SLD)