While pubertal status refers to degree of physical maturation, pubertal timing is a relative concept indicating whether development occurs early, at the same time as, or later than the individuals’ same-age, same-sex peers (Graber, Petersen, & Brooks-Gunn, 1996). Following previous conceptualisation and measurement approaches, pubertal timing was assessed using multiple items with an adjustment for sex and age (e.g. Ge et al., 2002; Ge, Natsuaki, Neiderhiser, & Reiss, 2007).
