PHYSICAL CHANGES ASSOCIATED WITH ADOLESCENCE IN BOYS

TLDR

Previous work described physical changes during adolescence in girls and emphasized their clinical relevance, while the literature also includes studies of male adolescent development covering developmental processes and behavioral implications. This study reports on the physical changes accompanying adolescence in boys. The authors examined 59 boys enrolled in the long‑term Fels Growth Study, collecting data on their physical development.

Abstract

IN A PREVIOUS paper¹a description was given of certain physical changes accompanying adolescence in girls. The value of such information to the pediatrician was discussed, with particular reference to the normal range of individual variation in sexual maturation. In the present study a similar report is made for boys. The general literature on adolescent bodily changes and various studies of female adolescence were cited in the earlier publication. In addition, a number of studies have dealt specifically with male adolescent development. ²These range from concise descriptions of developmental processes to broad discussions of the relation of sexual maturation to behavior in adolescence. <h3>MATERIALS AND METHODS</h3> The 59 boys reported on in this paper are, like the girls in the earlier study,¹regular participants in the long-term study of growth and development under way at the Fels Research Institute for the Study of Human Development.³The