Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between pubertal maturation and psychological adjustment in adolescents. A total of 628 junior high school students (312 boys and 316 girls) were administered with an anonymous questionnaire, including the assessment of depression, anxiety, somatic complaints and aggression. Pubertal development was measured in terms of both pubertal status and the relative timing within the same grade peers. Findings indicate that pubertal maturation was associated with psychological maladjustment, but for boys, some of the effects of pubertal status were found to be age artifact. For girls, pubertal status was significantly associated with depression and anxiety even after controlling for the effect of age. As expected, early maturing girls and late maturing boys reported higher level of depression. Results were discussed in terms of their implications for the understanding of psychological adjustment during pubertal transition.
