Original article
Social cognitions associated with pubertal development in a sample of urban, low-income, African-American and Latina girls and mothers

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Abstract

Purpose: To assess girls’ acquisition of new sex-related social cognitions at puberty and the social meanings they attribute to changes in their primary social relationships.

Methods: As part of a larger study assessing sociosexual cognitions of urban girls, 57 African-American and Latina mothers and 57 girls (aged 10–13 years) participated in one of 16 focus groups. Thematic analyses were conducted on transcripts of the mothers’ and daughters’ focus group sessions.

Results: Analyses revealed four major themes related to pubertal development: (1) physical maturation provides new social status of maturity; (2) puberty is associated with changes in sexual expectations and roles; (3) girls develop social meanings to feelings of sexual arousal; and (4) puberty prompts changes in mother–daughter relationship control. Representative quotations are used to illustrate each of these themes.

Conclusions: Our analyses provide insight into the ways in which late childhood and early adolescent urban girls interpret sexuality and sexual relations, perceive changes in their social relationships, and develop expectations regarding their roles in sexual and romantic relationships.

Section snippets

Association between pubertal development and sexual behavior

Puberty is characterized by rapid and conspicuous changes (13) in physical appearance, most notably in height and development of secondary sex characteristics, and maturation of the internal reproductive structures. Although defined in biological terms, puberty has been of interest to many social scientists because of the associations between pubertal development and behavior changes, particularly with regard to sexual behaviors (14). Under study are both the sociosexual effects of the maturing

Social cognitive changes associated with pubertal development in girls

A major task of adolescence is adjusting to the somatic and endocrine changes associated with puberty, as well as to the new or unexpected reactions of others in their social relationships (27). Using a symbolic interactionist framework, adolescents are expected to make these adjustments in part by developing social cognitions based on their interactions with primary socialization agents (i.e., family and peers). According to this theory, social meaning is derived from interactions with others

Participants

The sample of mothers and daughters was recruited from local neighborhoods of the Washington Heights and Upper Harlem communities of New York City. Women were approached in public areas of the local community by two women working on this project (with at least one being African-American or Latina) and invited to take part in a focus group discussion about girls’ experiences of sex, dating, and relationships. Other recruitment methods employed in this project included distributing posters and

Participant demographics

Descriptive data for participants are described in detail elsewhere (37). Most mothers were African-American (51%) or Latina (48%) and between the ages of 31 and 35 years (25%) and 36 and 40 years (27%). All but two of the Latina mothers were born in the United States, typically originating from the Dominican Republic (75%). Of the 57 mothers of girls aged 10–13 years, only 31 were asked to provide information about their daughters’ pubertal status. Of these 31 mothers, 27 indicated that their

Discussion

The current study employed focus group methods to explore the nature of social cognitions of urban girls at puberty. We were able to obtain a rich source of data regarding the range of current perspectives of urban girls, their mothers, and same-sex peers. Rather than acquiring information regarding the impact of just some aspects of puberty, such as menarche, on self-evaluations or development of sexual self-concepts (6), we examined both personal and social meanings of pubertal development

Acknowledgements

A preliminary report of the data was presented at the joint annual meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality and the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors, and Therapists, Arlington, Virginia, November 12–16, 1997. This research was supported in part by NIMH Center Grant 2-P50-MH43520 to Anke A. Ehrhardt, an NIMH Fellowship Training Grant T32-MH19139 (Program Director: Zena Stein), and a Sexuality Research Fellowship from the Social Science Research Council to

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