A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE OBJECT RELATIONS OF EARLY MATURING GIRLS AND THEIR LATENCY AGED FEMALE PEERS

The purpose of this study were (1) to compare and contrast the object relations of early maturing girls with their latency-aged female peers, and (2) to determine if early maturing girls resembled their female peers with respect to the level of mastery of age-appropriate social and emotional developmental tasks. Subjects consisted of ten early maturing girls and twelve contrast subjects ranging in age from 8-9 to 10-1. The criteria for inclusion in the early maturing group was reaching Stage Three or higher on Tanner's Scale for Stages of Breast Development in Adolescent Girls.; The major hypotheses generated were: (1) Early maturing girls would perceive themselves to be isolated from their female peers; (2) Early maturing girls would have a poor self-image and low self-esteem; (3) Early maturing girls would perceive themselves to be isolated from their male peers and would turn toward older boys for heterosexual companionship; (4) Early maturing girls would be ambivalent about identifying with their mothers; and (5) Early maturing girls would perceive their fathers to be emotionally distant.; Each subject was administered the Conceptual Grid and the Tasks of Emotional Development Test. The Conceptual data were analyzed using a cluster analysis procedure which yielded a structural map of each subjects' interpersonal world based on personally perceived similarities and differences between significant role figures. The T.E.D. data revealed both conscious and unconscious perceptions of significant role figures and measured a subject's facility with mastering such developmental tasks as "Separation from Mother Figure" and "Identification with Like-Sexed Parent." Nomothetic analyses were performed by using Z tests for significance of differences between two proportions.; It was found that both the early maturing girls and their latency-aged female peers related similarly to their male peers, but the early maturing girls were developmentally more advanced with respect to their female peer relations. Male peer relations were age-appropriate to the latency period, but the female peer relations of the early maturing girls displayed dynamics more characteristic of early adolescence. The early maturing girls did not have a poor self-image or low-esteem; both groups of girls were found to define their identity in terms of adult role models rather than peer figures. Both groups of subjects were ambivalent about identifying with their mothers; subjects' relationships with their mothers were found to be similar to the pattern of object relations observed during the separation-individuation phase of an earlier developmental level. Contrast subjects in this study did appear to view the father-daughter relationship to be an emotionally distant one, but this was not true of the early maturing girls. The early maturing girls identified with their fathers significantly more often than any other role figure, and they desired a close emotional relationship with him. An ego-ideal type of identification was reflected in the basis of the perceived similarities between early maturing girls and their fathers; their desire for intimacy with their fathers reflected a return toward father as love-object at the time of early puberty. No significant differences between the groups were found with respect to the subject's ability to master other age-appropriate social and emotional tasks.; The results of this study are discussed in terms of theoretical formulations and clinical implications. Issues related to implications for further research are addressed.