Table 1.
Summary of puberty variables within the ABCD Study.
| Content | Description | Sex* | Informant/Source | NDAR Element Name (Alias)** |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pubertal Development Scale and Menstrual Cycle Survey History (Youth: abcd_ypdms01, Caregiver: abcd_ppdms01) | ||||
| Sex/gender (not disambiguated in the question wording) | Do you consider yourself male or female? | All | Youth | pds_sex_y (pubertdev_sex) |
| Sex at birth | What sex was your child assigned at birth? | All | Caregiver | pubertal_sex_p (pubertdev_sex_p) |
| Height spurt | Would you say that your/your child’s growth in height 1 = has not yet begun to spurt; 2 = has barely started; 3 = is definitely underway; 4 = seems complete; 999 = I don’t know; 777= refuse to answer | All | Both | pds_ht2_y, pds_ht2_p (pubertdev_ht, pubertdev_1_p) |
| Skin changes | Have you/your child noticed any skin changes, especially pimples? 1 = skin has not yet started changing; 2 = skin has barely started changing; 3 = skin changes are definitely underway; 4 = skin changes seem complete; 999 = I don’t know; 777 = refuse to answer | All | Both | pds_skin2_y, pds_3_p*** (pubertdev_skin, pubertdev_3_p) |
| Body hair | And how about the growth of your/your child’s body hair? 1 = has not yet begun to spurt; 2 = has barely started; 3 = is definitely underway; 4 = seems complete; 999 = I don’t know; 777 = refuse to answer | All | Both | pds_bdy_hair_y, pds_2_p*** (pubertdev_bdyhair, pubertdev_2_p) |
| Breast development | Have you noticed that your/your child’s breasts have begun to grow? 1 = have not yet started growing; 2 = have barely started growing; 3 = breast growth is definitely underway; 4 = breast growth seems complete; 999 = I don’t know; 777 = refuse to answer | Female | Both | pds_f4_2_y, pds_f4_2_p (pubertdev_f4, pubertdev_f4_p) |
| Menstruation began? | Have you/she begun to menstruate (started to have your period)? | Female | Both | pds_f5_y, pds_f5_p (pubertdev_f5, pubertdev_f5_p) |
| Age of first period | If yes, how old were you/she when you/she started to menstruate? | Female | Both | pds_f6_y, pds_f6_p (pubertdev_f6, pubertdev_f6_p) |
| Deepening voice | Have you noticed a deepening of your/your child’s voice? | Male1 | Both | pds_m4_y, pds_m4_p (pubertdev_m4, pubertdev_m4_p) |
| Facial hair | Have you/your child begun to grow hair on your/his face? | Male 1 | Both | pds_m5_y, pds_m5_p (pubertdev_m5, pubertdev_m5_p) |
| First day of last period | What was the date of the first day of your/your daughter’s last period? | Female | Both | menstrualcycle1_y, menstrualcycle1_p (menstrual_1, menstrual_1_p) |
| Cycle length | On average, how many days are there between the first day of your/her period and the first day of your/her next period? (e.g., 30 days) | Female | Both | menstrualcycle2_y, menstrualcycle2_p (menstrual_2, menstrual_2_p) |
| Cycle regularity | Is your/her menstrual cycle regular? | Female | Both | mentrualcycle3_y, menstrualcycle3_p (menstrual_3, menstrual_3_p) |
| Hormonal birth control | Are you/is she currently using hormonal birth control (eg. the pill, hormone patch, hormone injection)? | Female | Both | menstrualcycle4_y, menstrualcycle4_p (menstrual_4, menstrual_4_p) |
| Premenstrual irritability | Do you/does she experience premenstrual symptoms, such as irritability, fatigue, etc., which start before a period and stop within a few days of bleeding? | Female | Both | menstrualcycle5_y, menstrualcycle5_p (menstrual_5, menstrual_5_p) |
| Does PMS interfere with activities | Do your/her premenstrual symptoms interfere with your/her relationships with family and friends, productivity, and/or social life activities? | Female | Both | menstrualcycle6_y, menstrualcycle6_p (menstrual_6, menstrual_6_p) |
| Derived pubertal development scores (ABCD Sum Scores Physical Health Youth and Parent; abcd_ssphp01) | ||||
| Category score based on the Pubertal Development Scale (prepubertal/early/mid/late/post)3 | All | Both | pds_y_ss_female_category (pubertdev_ss_female_category), pds_y_ss_male_category (pubertdev_ss_male_category), pds_p_ss_female_category (pubertdev_ss_female_category_p), pds_p_ss_male_category (pubertdev_ss_male_category_p) |
|
| Salivary hormone measures (Hormone Saliva Salimetric Scores; hsss01) | ||||
| Salimetrics hormone test mean (pg/ml) | Hormone saliva variable recorded by Salimetrics | dhea: all, hse (E2), females only; ert (T): all |
Youth | hormone_scr_dhea_mean, hormone_scr_hse_mean, hormone_scr_ert_mean |
| Salimetrics hormone test below lower limit of sensitivity 2 , replications 1 and 2**** (yes/no) | hormone_scr_dhea_rep1, hormone_scr_hse_rep1, hormone_scr_ert_rep1 | |||
| Salimetrics hormone quantity not sufficient, repetitions 1 and 2**** (yes/no) | hormone_scr_dhea_rep1_qns, hormone_scr_hse_rep1_qns, hormone_scr_ert_rep1_qns | |||
| Salimetrics hormone test none detected, repetitions 1 and 2**** (yes/no) | hormone_scr_dhea_rep1_nd, hormone_scr_hse_rep1_nd, hormone_scr_ert_rep1_nd | |||
| Other variables | ||||
| Sex (male/female) | All | Caregiver | sex (sex_at_birth, also aliased as “gender”) | |
| Mean standing height (inches) | All | Youth | anthroheightcalc (anthro_height_calc [mean of anthro_1_height_in, anthro_2_height_in, anthro_3_height_in]) | |
| Mean weight (lbs) | All | Youth | anthroweightcalc (anthro_weight_calc [mean of anthro_weight1_lb, anthro_weight2_lb, anthro_weight3_lb]) | |
| Quality control measures for saliva samples (Pubertal Hormone Saliva information at time of fluid collection; sph01) | ||||
| Wake-up time on test day | What time did you wake up today? | All | Youth | hormone_sal_wake_y (biospec_hormone_sal_wake) |
| Caffeine | Have you had any caffeine in the last 12 hours? How many drinks (mg) did you have |
All | Youth | hormone_sal_caff_y (biospec_hormone_sal_caff) |
| hormone_sal_caff_mg_y (biospec_hormone_sal_caff_mg) | ||||
| Exercise | In the last 12 hours, did you exercise vigorously (sweating, breathing hard) for at least 20 minutes? For how long did you exercise? |
All | Youth | hormone_sal_active (biospec_hormone_sal_active) |
| hormone_sal_active_minutes_y (biospec_hormone_sal_active_minutes) | ||||
| Sample Collection information | Hormone saliva tube cap color, Sample time collection start, Sample time collection end, Sample barcode, Storage temperature, Time sample moved to freezer | All | Youth | hormone_sal_sex, hormone_sal_start_y, (biospec_hormone_sal_start), hormone_sal_end_y, (biospec_hormone_sal_end) hormone_sal_bc_y, (biospec_hormone_sal_bc) hormone_sal_freeztemp_y, (biospec_hormons_sal_freeztemp) hormone_sal_freezer_y (biospec_hormone_sal_freezer) |
| Concerns about sample | None, Contaminated, Discoloration, Excessive bubbles, Insufficient quantity, Other | All | Youth | hormon_sal_notes_y:_1 through hormon_sal_notes_y:_6 biospec_hormon_sal_notes___1 through biospec_hormon_sal_notes___6) |
Adapted from ABCD data release 2.0.1, last updated 05/06/2020 (doi: 10.15154/1506087; wave 01/baseline). The ABCD data repository grows and changes over time. The contents under NDAR Element Name (Alias) refer to abbreviations in the ABCD dataset codebook, and may be useful only to those who have successfully applied for (free) access to the data. *Sex-specific scores were calculated based on responses to the sex_at_birth variable, which only had binary response options; we note that there are various sex and gender related variables, and that a separate scale was administered to address gender identity (not described above); ** Throughout, “y”; denotes youth and “p”; denotes parent/caregiver versions; *** Number mismatch is because youth and caregiver measures were in a different order; **** Due to space constraints, only abbreviations for repetition 1 are shown.
1Only boys responded to these questions. This limits the documentation of girls with androgen excess who may also experience facial hair and deepening of the voice.
2The lower limit of sensitivity is reported for each hormone in Herting, Uban, and colleagues (2021).
3Converted Pubertal Development Scale values are not provided and must be calculated by researchers [see (5) for more information on possible calculations].