GROWING UP: PHYSICALY MATURE

Does early as opposed to late maturity have any lasting effects on the boy’s personality?

A boy who is physically mature at 15 is likely to be regarded with greater respect by his parents, by his peers, and by girls than a boy who is still small and has little or no facial hair. The physically mature boy is able to compete better in athletic contests, which in our society gives him status. Because girls mature about one or two years earlier than boys, the physically mature boy is more confident with girls of his own age in heterosexual encounters.

These observations were confirmed by the scientists in California, who found that late maturers were less well poised, less physically attractive to others, less popular with their peers, more likely to seek attention, and more tense than early maturers. The late maturers needed more sympathy and encouragement to combat their anxiety and distress.

Many of these problems would be avoided if the wide variation in age of physical maturity in adolescence were known by parents, and if they stressed to their anxious son that by 16 or 17 he will be as physically mature as a boy who matures early. Parents and children should know that the physical changes of adolescence can occur at widely different ages in normal young people. The height spurt may occur as early as 11 or as late as 16. The size of the boy’s chest may increase at 12 or not until he is 17. He may put on weight, increasing his muscle mass and his strength, any time between 12 and 16. There is no basis for the folk myth that a boy can outgrow his strength.

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