Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T14:56:24.692Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The relative rate of maturation and its psychological effect

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2008

Cheryl Sorenson Goodson  and
Paul L. Jamison
Cheryl Sorenson Goodson
Affiliation:
Anthropology Department, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA
Paul L. Jamison
Affiliation:
Anthropology Department, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Growth and psychological data for 74 participants in the Fels Longitudinal Study are analysed to determine the influence of the relative timing of maturation upon psychological attributes related to interests, abilities, self-confidence, peer relationships, and future goals. It is suggested that neither age at peak height velocity for either sex, nor age of menarche for girls, represents an adequate measurement of relative maturity status. A new variable that can be used for both sexes, relative maturity, is suggested and computed using peak height velocity as well as the additional information gained from the percentage of adult stature achieved at that time.

Results of separate significance tests using peak height velocity and relative maturity as independent variables reveal early maturers to be more self-confident in specific abilities and also more gregarious during adolescence with higher educational and vocational expectations for the future, while the later maturer is less likely to be influenced by his peers and to have less ambitious long-range goals.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 19 , Issue 1 , January 1987 , pp. 73 - 88
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1987

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bailit, H. L. & Whelan, M. A. (1967) Some factors related to size and intelligence in an institutionalized mentally retarded population: an anthropometric study. J. Pediat. 71, 897.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bayley, N. (1943) Skeletal maturing in adolescence as a basis for determining percentage of completed growth. Child Dev. 14, 1.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bock, R. D., Wainer, H., Petersen, A., Thissen, D., Murray, J. & Roche, A. (1973) A parameterization for individual human growth curves. Hum. Biol. 45, 63.Google ScholarPubMed
Brucefors, A., Johannesson, I., Karlberg, P., Klackenberg-Larsson, I., Lichtenstein, H. & Svenberg, I. (1974) Trends in development of abilities related to somatic growth. Hum. Dev. 17, 152.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crandall, V. C. (1969) Sex differences in expectancy of intellectual and academic reinforcement. In: Achievement-Related Motives in Children. Edited by Smith, C. P.Russell Sage Foundation, New York.Google Scholar
Crandall, V. C. (1972) The Fels study: some contributions to personality development and achievement in childhood and adulthood. Semin. Psychiat. 4, 383.Google ScholarPubMed
Crandall, V. C. & Battle, E. S. (1970) The antecedents and adult correlates of academic and intellectual achievement and effort. In: Minnesota Symposium on Child Psychology, No. 4, p. 36. Edited by Hill, J. P.University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis.Google Scholar
Crandall, V. C. & Crandall, B. W. (1983) Maternal and childhood behaviors as antecedents of internal–external control perceptions in young adulthood. In: Research with the Locus of Control Construct: Developments and Social Problems. Vol. 2. Edited by Lefcourt, H. M.Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Crandall, V. C., Katkovsky, W. & Crandall, V. J. (1965) Children's beliefs in their own control of reinforcement in intellectual–academic achievement situations. Child Dev. 36, 91.Google ScholarPubMed
Davies, B. L. (1977) Attitudes toward school among early and late maturing adolescent girls. J. genet. Psychol. 131, 261.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Douglas, J. W. B. & Ross, J. M. (1964) Age of puberty related to educational ability, attainment, and school leaving age. J. Child Psychol. Psychiat. 5, 185.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Duke, P. M., Carlsmith, J. M., Jennings, D., Martin, J. A., Dornbusch, S. M., Gross, R. T. & Siegel-Gorelick, B. (1982) Educational correlates of early and late sexual maturation in adolescence. J. Pediat. 100, 633.Google ScholarPubMed
Erkut, S. (1983) Exploring sex differences in expectancy, attribution, and academic achievement. Sex Roles, 9, 217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Faust, M. S. (1960) Developmental maturity as a determinant of prestige of adolescent girls. Child Dev. 31, 173.Google ScholarPubMed
Fisch, R. O., Bilek, M. K., Horrobin, J. M. & Chang, P. N. (1976) Children with superior intelligence at 7 years of age. Am. J. Dis. Child. 130, 481.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frisancho, R. & Flegel, B. N. (1982) Advanced maturation associated with centripetal fat pattern. Hum. Biol. 54, 717.Google ScholarPubMed
Gallagher, J. R. & Seltzer, C. C. (1961) Maturity ratings and the prediction of height of short 14-year-old boys. Pediatrics, 27, 984.Google ScholarPubMed
Garn, S. M., Poznanski, A. K. & Nagy, J. M. (1971) The operational meaning of maturity criteria. Am. J. phys. Anthrop. 35, 319.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gleason, G. T. & Klausmeier, H. J. (1958) The relationship between variability in physical growth and academic achievement among third- and fifth-grade children. J. educ. Res. 51, 521.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gross, R. T. & Duke, P. M. (1980) The effect of early versus late physical maturation on adolescent behavior. Pediat. Clin. N. Am. 27, 71.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harper, J. F. & Collins, J. K. (1972) The effects of early or late maturation on the prestige of the adolescent girl. Aust. N.Z. J. Sociol. 8, 83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
James, A. L. & Barry, R. J. (1981) General maturational lag as an essential correlate of early-onset psychosis. J. Autism dev. Disorder, 11, 271.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jones, M. C. (1957) The late careers of boys who were early- or late-maturing. Child Dev. 28, 113.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jones, M. C. (1958) A study of socialization patterns at the high school level. J. genet. Psychol. 93, 87.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jones, M. C. (1965) Psychological correlates of somatic development. Child Dev. 36, 899.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jones, M. C. & Mussen, P. H. (1958) Self-conceptions, motivations, and interpersonal attitudes of early- and late-maturing girls. Child Dev. 29, 491.Google ScholarPubMed
Kagan, J. & Moss, H. A. (1962) Birth to Maturity. Wiley, New York.Google Scholar
Klein, R. E., Kagan, J., Greeman, H. E., Yarbrough, C. & Habicht, J. P. (1972) Is big smart? The relation of growth to cognition. J. Hlth social Behav. 13, 219.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kohen-Raz, R. (1974) Physiological maturation and mental growth at pre-adolescence and puberty. J. Child Psychol. Psychiat. 15, 199.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lips, H. M. & Colwill, N. L. (1978) The Psychology of Sex Differences. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.Google Scholar
Lowery, G. H. (1978) Growth and Development of Children. 7th edn.Yearbook Medical, Chicago.Google Scholar
Males, J. L. (1978) Evaluation of male gonadal function. J. cont. Educ. Fam. Med. 24, 11.Google Scholar
Malina, R. M. (1971) A consideration of factors underlying the selection of methods in the assessment of skeletal maturity. Am. J. phys. Anthrop. 35, 341.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Malina, R. M. (1978) Adolescent growth and maturation: selected aspects of current research. Yearbook phys. Anthrop. 21, 63.Google Scholar
Marshall, W. A. & Delimongi, Y. (1976) Skeletal maturity and the prediction of age at menarche. Hum. Biol. 43, 235.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marshall, W. A. & Tanner, J. M. (1970). Variations in the pattern of pubertal changes in boys. Archs Dis. Childh. 45, 13.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McCall, R. B. (1977) Childhood IQ's as predictors of adult educational and occupational status. Science, N.Y. 197, 482.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McCall, R. B., Applebaum, M. I. & Hogarty, P. S. (1973) Developmental changes in mental performance. Monogr. Soc. Res. Child Dev. 38, 1.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mussen, P. H. & Jones, M. C. (1957) Self-concepts, motivations, and interpersonal attitudes of late- and early-maturing boys. Child Dev. 28, 243.Google Scholar
Mussen, P. H. & Jones, M. C. (1958) The behavior-inferred motivations of late- and early-maturing boys. Child Dev. 29, 61.Google ScholarPubMed
Nisbet, J. D. & Illesley, R. (1963) The influence of early puberty on test performance at age eleven. Br. J. educ. Psychol. 33, 169.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nisbet, J. D., Illesley, R., Sutherland, A. E. & Douse, M. J. (1964) Puberty and test performance: a further report. Br. J. educ. Psychol. 34, 202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Onat, T., Koptagel-Ilal, G., Enbiyaoglu, G., Mahmutoglyu, M. & Uctum, N. (1979) The relationship between somatic growth and psychological development in Turkish adolescents. Psychother. Psychosom. 32, 313.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Peskin, H. (1967) Pubertal onset and ego functioning. J. abnorm. Psychol. 72, 1.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Peskin, H. (1973) Influence of developmental schedule of puberty on learning and ego functioning. J. Youth Adolesc. 2, 273.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Prokopec, M. (1982) Early and late maturers. Anthrop. Kozl. 26, 13.Google Scholar
Roche, A. F. (1978) Bone growth and maturation. In: Human Growth, Vol. 2, p. 317. Edited by Falkner, F. & Tanner, J. M.Plenum, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roche, A. F., Tyleshevski, F. & Rogers, E. (1983) Non-invasive measurements of physical maturity in children. Res. Q. Exercise Sport, 54, 364.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rovet, J. (1983) Cognitive and neuropsychological test performance of persons with abnormalities of adolescent development: a test of Waber's hypothesis. Child Dev. 54, 941.Google Scholar
Simon, M. D. (1959) Body configuration and school readiness. Child Dev. 30, 493.Google ScholarPubMed
Sontag, L. W. (1971) The history of longitudinal research: implications for the future. Child Dev. 42, 987.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tanner, J. M. (1962) Growth at Adolescence. 2nd edn.Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford.Google Scholar
Tanner, J. M. (1981) A History of the Study of Human Growth. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Tanner, J. M., Whitehouse, R. H. & Takaishi, M. (1966) Standards from birth to maturity for height, weight, height velocity, and weight velocity: British children, 1965. Archs Dis. Childh. 41, 454.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thissen, D., Bock, D., Wainer, H. & Roche, A. (1976) Individual growth in stature: a comparison of four growth studies in the USA. Ann. hum. Biol. 3, 529.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waber, D. P. (1976) Sex differences in cognition: a function of maturation rate? Science, N.Y. 192, 572.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Waber, D. P. (1977) Sex differences in mental abilities, hemispheric lateralization and rate of physical growth at adolescence. Devl Psychol. 13, 29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watts, E. S. & Gavan, J. A. (1982) Postnatal growth of nonhuman primates: the problem of the adolescent spurt. Hum. Biol. 54, 53.Google ScholarPubMed
Weinberg, W. A., Dietz, S. G., Penick, E. C. & Mcalister, W. H. (1974) Intelligence, reading achievement, physical size, and social class. J. Pediat. 85, 482.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Westin-Lindgren, G. (1982) Achievement and mental ability of physically late and early maturing school children related to their social background. J. Child Psychol. Psychiat. 23, 407.CrossRefGoogle Scholar