Classifying Pubertal Development Using Child and Parent Report: Comparing the Pubertal Development Scales to Tanner...

Area of Science:

• Pediatric endocrinology
• Adolescent health research
• Psychometrics

Background:

• The Pubertal Development Scale (PDS) is widely used to assess pubertal progression in children and adolescents.
• Validating the PDS against clinical standards like Tanner staging is crucial for accurate research and clinical application.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the internal consistency and test-retest reliability of the Pubertal Development Scale (PDS).
• To compare parent and child self-reports on the PDS with clinician-rated Tanner staging.
• To assess the validity of the PDS in reflecting pubertal development stages.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a dataset from 1995-2016 with 252 participants (aged 7.8-17.7 years).
• Collected self- and parent-reported PDS data and clinician-rated Tanner staging within 30 days.
• Assessed reliability for 56 children across two time points within 6 months; analyzed validity using 233 child and 252 parent ratings.

Main Results:

• Self- and parent-reported PDS demonstrated strong internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha .91-.96) and high test-retest reliability (ICC .81-.92).
• Moderate to high association was found between PDS reports and Tanner stages (Kendall's Tau .67-.76, ICC .73-.83).
• Low absolute agreement (Cohen's Kappa .20-.37) improved significantly when PDS scores were grouped into three broad pubertal categories (κ = .65).

Conclusions:

• The PDS is a reliable instrument for assessing pubertal development through both self and parent reports.
• While PDS categories do not precisely align with individual Tanner stages, three broader developmental stages demonstrate improved agreement.
• These broader PDS categories are suitable for most child and adolescent research applications.