TY - JOUR
T1 - Puberty questions asked by early adolescents
T2 - What do they want to know?
AU - Ryan, Sheryl A.
AU - Millstein, Susan G.
AU - Irwin, Charles E.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors gratefully acknowledge the contributions of the following people for their assistance in data collection and preparation of the manuscript: Monica Davis, Peggy Dolcini, E. Camilla Hyman, Todd Jacobs, Jeff Kamler, and Rebecca Lee. The authors were supported in part by grants from the W.T. Grant Foundation, the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCH000978, MCH0654, and MCJ000980), and the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (ST32HS00029).
PY - 1996/8
Y1 - 1996/8
N2 - Objective: We undertook the following study to document questions asked by early adolescents regarding pubertal development. Methods: As part of a health education program, 159 sixth-grade students (mean = 12.1 years) were surveyed to obtain their questions about puberty and their self-assessed pubertal stage. Questions were coded for content and gender specificity. Results: Of 159 initial subjects, 111 generated a total of 200 questions. A majority of the questions reflected biological topics (88%), such as genital physiology (26%) and sexuality and reproduction (26%). Only 6% addressed psychosocial questions. Both females and Asians (compared with other ethnic or racial groups) expressed greater interest in the differences between male and female development (P < .05). Prepubertal males were more concerned about general puberty than were boys in later Tanner stages (P < .05). Earlier maturing males focused on genital anatomy (P < .05). Conclusions: We found that biological questions concerning puberty predominated over psychosocial topics, and that the gender, race or ethnicity, and stage of development determined the kinds of questions that early adolescents have about pubertal development. Health educators and clinicians may need to focus on physiologic areas to provide more meaningful information about development to early adolescents.
AB - Objective: We undertook the following study to document questions asked by early adolescents regarding pubertal development. Methods: As part of a health education program, 159 sixth-grade students (mean = 12.1 years) were surveyed to obtain their questions about puberty and their self-assessed pubertal stage. Questions were coded for content and gender specificity. Results: Of 159 initial subjects, 111 generated a total of 200 questions. A majority of the questions reflected biological topics (88%), such as genital physiology (26%) and sexuality and reproduction (26%). Only 6% addressed psychosocial questions. Both females and Asians (compared with other ethnic or racial groups) expressed greater interest in the differences between male and female development (P < .05). Prepubertal males were more concerned about general puberty than were boys in later Tanner stages (P < .05). Earlier maturing males focused on genital anatomy (P < .05). Conclusions: We found that biological questions concerning puberty predominated over psychosocial topics, and that the gender, race or ethnicity, and stage of development determined the kinds of questions that early adolescents have about pubertal development. Health educators and clinicians may need to focus on physiologic areas to provide more meaningful information about development to early adolescents.
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U2 - 10.1016/1054-139X(95)00326-N
DO - 10.1016/1054-139X(95)00326-N
M3 - Comment/debate
C2 - 8863087
AN - SCOPUS:0030220164
SN - 1054-139X
VL - 19
SP - 145
EP - 152
JO - Journal of Adolescent Health
JF - Journal of Adolescent Health
IS - 2
ER -