Pubertal Status and Parent-Child Relations in Families of Seventh-Grade Boys

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Abstract
Associations between global ratings of pubertal status and several child-rearing and outcome variables were examined for mother-son and father-son dyads. All variables were assessed with questionnaires in an attempt to confirm and demonstrate the robustness across methods of earlier observational studies. In anticipation of curvilinear effects, multiple regression analyses, wherein pubertal status is treated as a continuous variable and is entered into the regression equations as a set of power polynomial terms, were employed. Significant relations between pubertal status and outcome variables were found for the mother-son (but not for the father-son) dyad and most relations were quadratic. These results are similar to those of earlier observational studies in that temporary perturbations occur in mother-son relations at or near the peak of pubertal growth. No statistically significant effects of socioeconomic status upon relations between pubertal status and the family interaction variables were found.