This study examined the effects of pubertal status, pubertal timing (actual and perceived), and youth biological sex on symptom dimensions of anxiety (i.e., social, separation, harm avoidance, physical) in African Americans (n = 252; ages 8-12). For girls, results indicated that pubertal status and timing (actual) exerted similar effects for some…

Introduction: The aim of this study was to evaluate the school-based "My Body and I" program which was designed to help girls and boys to cope better with inevitable pubertal body changes. Method: Using a pre-post treatment-control design with 25 treatment and 17 control classes from schools in Germany and France (484 boys, 485 girls;…

The often observed decline in students' self-perceptions across transition to secondary school after grade 6 is often attributed to students' entry to puberty. This study aims to examine whether lowered self-perceptions can be observed after transition in Germany which occurs after grade 4 and thus takes place before puberty. Fifth graders (N =…

This study had three goals: (a) assessing the predictive association of externalizing and internalizing behaviors during childhood with sexual onset during early adolescence; (b) examining the interactive link of externalizing and internalizing behaviors with early sexual onset; and (c) investigating the moderating effect of gender in this…

The purposes of this study were to compare the age of onset of the voice change in African American, White, and Hispanic male students, as well as to describe characteristics of the changing male voice in fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade students, using Cooksey's maturation stages. Participants included volunteers from two urban elementary…

Self-reports of grade at first menstrual period for 1,967 fourth-grade through ninth-grade girls were used to categorize girls as early maturers. The categories of early maturer and other (on-time or late maturers) were then examined for stability over a 3-year period using McNemar tests and [kappa] coefficients. Although the results showed…

The transition from elementary to middle school is a significant period of change for adolescents and is remarkable for several reasons, including the opportunity for new experiences and the potential for other developmental changes to occur simultaneously. Existing literature on transition includes both positive and negative outcomes for…