title: 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.
authors.affiliation: E. P. Bradley Hospital, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown University School of Medicine, East Providence, Rhode Island 02915.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Carskadon
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Acebo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D003625:Data Collection; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D006803:Human Development; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents; D011627:Puberty; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013663:Teaching