Abstract: As a developmental milestone, puberty is notable for its rapid and near-simultaneous transformation across biological, social, and psychological domains. As physical appearance matures, individuals must navigate changing social norms and expectations. This often necessitates a confrontation and, perhaps, reorganization of identity and self-perception. Aberrance in maturational timing seems to increase risk for emotional and behavioral problems during adolescence and early adulthood. In particular, girls who mature earlier than their peers seem to find pubertal adjustment especially challenging and are more likely to experience detrimental sequelae. The negative outcomes associated with early pubertal timing span multiple domains. These include psychological, medical, sexual, social, and academic correlates. The present research was to explore the influence of timing of puberty on girls’ self-concept. According to cluster sampling principle, 658 girls aged from 12 to 14 years old were investigated with the Pubertal Development Scale (PDS) and the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale (TSCS). The Results found that:①More than 90% of the 12 to 14-year-old girls are in midpubertal and late pubertal stage, and few girls are in prepubertal and postpubertal stage; ②The results of two-factor variance analysis showed that, there were no main effects of age and pubertal stage on all factor scores and the total score of TSCS; ③The interaction of age and pubertal stage was apparent on Family self, Social self, Self identity, Self action, and the total score of TSCS, the girls at low pubertal stages and high ages, and those at high pubertal stages and low ages, get significantly lower scores. The research showed that too late or too early puberty timing might both have negative effect on girl’s self-concept development. Further research should attempt to elucidate the mechanisms by which early maturation afects the adolescent girl’s self-concept development.

Key words: Timing of puberty, Self concept, Junior high school, Girls

摘要： 目的:探讨青春期开始时间早晚对初中女生自我概念发展的影响。方法:整群抽取初一至初三年龄12-14岁的女生共658人，采用青春期发育量表、田纳西自我概念量表进行测量。结果:①绝大多数12至14岁的女生青春期发育状态处于青春期中和青春期晚期（二者合占90%）；②年龄×青春期发育水平的方差分析显示，在自我概念各因子分及总分上，年龄和青春期发育水平的主效应均不显著；③在家庭自我、社会自我、自我认同、自我行动以及自我概念总分上年龄与青春期发育水平交互效应显著，高年龄低青春期发展水平和低年龄高青春期发展水平的初中女生的得分均较低。结论:青春期开始时间早晚可能对初中女生的自我概念的发展有一定影响，青春期开始时间晚或早均不利于女生自我概念的发展。

关键词: 青春期开始时间, 自我概念, 初中, 女生