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Puberty And Its Effect On The Family

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When discussing puberty, there have been several studies covering the effects of the onset, timing and duration of puberty. This article reviewed the timing of puberty and its effect on the family unit. This article defined the timing of puberty as one of three categories, early onset, on-time or late maturer. The need for further research in this area was necessary because previous studies often contradicted each other. This particular study was completed using participants that were white, highly educated and from upper middle class families with one parent and one adolescent from each family participating. The study tried to use equal numbers of fathers and mothers as much as possible but complete equality was not always possible because more mothers participated than fathers. The adolescents were between the ages of 10 and 17 years old and were various stages of puberty. Each adolescent was assessed based on their visible signs of secondary sex features such as facial hair, hip width, height, weight and chest development. They were then divided into the three pubertal timing categories previously mentioned with over 70% of the adolescents being on-time maturers, and a relatively equal number of boys and girls.
Both the parent and child were given a questionnaire. Parents were instructed to complete the questionnaire with no help from their child or spouse. The adolescents were given questionnaires in a group setting and all questionnaires were returned within thirty

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