Chaku Natasha, Berenbaum Sheri A, Qian Yiming, Corley Robin P, Wadsworth Sally J, Reynolds Chandra A, Beltz Adriene M
Department of Psychology, University of Michigan.
Department of Psychology and Pediatrics, Pennsylvania State University.
Dev Psychol. 2025 May;61(5):928-943. doi: 10.1037/dev0001784. Epub 2024 Sep 9.
Pubertal development has short- and long-term effects on psychological adjustment. Many studies of long-term effects rely on retrospective measurement of pubertal timing, but such measures often reflect different aspects of puberty than those assessed in adolescence, raising questions about the utility and interpretation of retrospective reports. The present study leveraged longitudinal data collected in adolescence and established adulthood to determine: (1) the correspondence between pubertal timing indexed from logistic growth curves of self-reported physical development assessed contemporaneously across adolescence and pubertal timing indexed relative to peers assessed retrospectively in adulthood; (2) the associations between the two pubertal timing measures and psychological adjustment; and (3) potential recall biases. Participants were 748 individuals (50.1% female; 91.6% White) from two longitudinal studies who reported on their pubertal development annually from Grades 3-9, psychological adjustment (age at sexual initiation, substance use, depression) in late adolescence, and retrospective pubertal timing in established adulthood ( = 32.76; = 4.43). Results indicate moderate-to-high convergence between retrospective and contemporaneous indices. Most participants, especially women, had the same pubertal timing classification (i.e., early, on time, or late), but early-maturing adolescents often recalled on-time development as adults. Retrospective and contemporaneous indices were associated with psychological adjustment in similar ways, with some attenuation in the retrospective measure, especially for men. There was little evidence of recall bias due to age at retrospective assessment or time since puberty. Findings generally support the use of retrospective pubertal timing measures, with the recognition that some relations with adjustment may be weakened. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).
青春期发育对心理调适有短期和长期影响。许多关于长期影响的研究依赖于对青春期时间的回顾性测量，但这些测量往往反映的青春期方面与青春期时评估的不同，这引发了对回顾性报告的效用和解释的质疑。本研究利用在青春期和成年期收集的纵向数据来确定：（1）从青春期期间同时评估的自我报告身体发育的逻辑增长曲线得出的青春期时间与成年期回顾性评估的相对于同龄人得出的青春期时间之间的对应关系；（2）两种青春期时间测量与心理调适之间的关联；以及（3）潜在的回忆偏差。参与者是来自两项纵向研究的748名个体（50.1%为女性；91.6%为白人），他们每年报告从三年级到九年级的青春期发育情况、青春期后期的心理调适（性开始年龄、物质使用、抑郁）以及成年期确定后的回顾性青春期时间（平均年龄 = 32.76岁；标准差 = 4.43岁）。结果表明回顾性指标与同期指标之间存在中度到高度的一致性。大多数参与者，尤其是女性，青春期时间分类相同（即早熟、准时或晚熟），但早熟的青少年成年后常回忆自己发育准时。回顾性指标和同期指标与心理调适的关联方式相似，但回顾性测量中有些关联有所减弱，尤其是对男性而言。几乎没有证据表明回顾性评估时的年龄或青春期后的时间会导致回忆偏差。研究结果总体上支持使用回顾性青春期时间测量方法，但要认识到与调适的一些关系可能会被削弱。（《心理学文摘数据库记录》（c）2025美国心理学会，保留所有权利）
