Pubertal Development Scale

This is a self-report measure of physical development for youth under the age of 16 (beyond that age, physical development of the type assessed here should be complete). Participants between 11-15 yrs of age will complete the Pubertal Development Scale (PDS, Petersen, Crockett, Richards, & Boxer, 1988), a widely used self-report measure of physical development which has been shown to be correlated with measures of pubertal development derived from physical examination. There are male and female versions of the PDS, which asks respondents to report their level of development on five indices. Boys are asked whether growth has not begun, barely begun, is definitely underway, or has finished on five dimensions: body hair, facial hair, voice change, skin change, and growth spurt. Girls are asked the same questions about body hair, skin change, breast development, and growth spurt. Responses are coded on 4-point scales (1 = no development and 4 = completed development). For girls, a yes-no question about onset of menarche is weighted more heavily (1 = no and 4 = yes). For both genders, ratings are then averaged to create an overall score for physical maturation.

• Petersen, A., Crockett, L., Richards, M., & Boxer, A. (1988). “A self-report measure of pubertal status: Reliability, validity, and initial norms.” Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 17(2), 117-133.

• Icenogle, G., Steinberg, L., Olino, T. M., Shulman, E. P., Chein, J., Alampay, L. P., Al-Hassan, S. M., Takash, H. M. S., Bacchini, D., Chang, L., Chaudhary, N., Di Giunta, L., Dodge, K. A., Fanti, K. A., Lansford, J. E., Malone, P. S., Oburu, P., Pastorelli, C., Skinner, A. T., Sorbring, E., Tapanya, S., & Uribe Tirado, L. M. (2017). Puberty predicts approach but not avoidance behavior on the Iowa Gambling Task in a multinational sample. Child Development, 88, 1598-1614.