The influence of relative pubertal maturity on executive function development in adolescent girls.

A positive association between pubertal maturity as assessed by skeletal development, and specific cognitive abilities has recently been demonstrated in a cohort of adolescent girls. The current study explores the impact of chronological age and relative pubertal maturity on executive function within the same cohort. Relative maturity, determined by the difference between chronological age and skeletal age, establishes the criteria for enrolling participants into average, advanced, or delayed relative maturity subgroups.

The interaction of relative age with maturation and body size in female handball talent selection.

The relative age effects (RAEs) and biological maturation are two distinct factors that have been identified to affect talent identification and selection. Previous research has suggested that talent selection should include sport-specific technical tasks instead of body size and/or physical test measurements, assuming that the technical tasks are less influenced by variations in maturation. Our purpose was to examine the prevalence of RAEs and to assess biological maturity, body size, and body composition within a single talent selection program for female handball players.

Large inter-individual variability in force-velocity profile changes in response to acute high-load resistance training.

Background: While the acute effects of high-load resistance training on the force generating capacity of muscles have been widely examined, limited data exist on the relationship with the force-velocity profile (FV). Evidence suggests high sensitivity of the vertical FV profile to monitor changes in the muscle's mechanical properties according to the type of the exercise protocol. However, the interpretation of the findings seems not as straightforward.

Maturation-dependent vulnerability of emotion regulation as a response to COVID-19 related stress in adolescents.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic created unpredictable circumstances resulting in increased psychological strain. Here we investigate pandemic-related alterations in emotion regulation in adolescents assessed before and during the pandemic. We also take biological age into account in the response to the pandemic.

Musical training improves fine motor function in adolescents.

Background: Adolescence is a sensitive period in motor development but little is known about how long-term learning dependent processes shape hand function in tasks of different complexity.

Procedure: We mapped two fundamental aspects of hand function: simple repetitive and complex sequential finger movements, as a function of the length of musical instrumental training. We controlled maturational factors such as chronological and biological age of adolescent female participants (11 to 15 years of age, n = 114).

Ultrasonic bone age fractionates cognitive abilities in adolescence.

Adolescent development is not only shaped by the mere passing of time and accumulating experience, but it also depends on pubertal timing and the cascade of maturational processes orchestrated by gonadal hormones. Although individual variability in puberty onset confounds adolescent studies, it has not been efficiently controlled for. Here we introduce ultrasonic bone age assessment to estimate biological maturity and disentangle the independent effects of chronological and biological age on adolescent cognitive abilities.

Talent Selection Based on Sport-Specific Tasks Is Affected by the Relative Age Effects among Adolescent Handball Players.

Unlabelled: Talent selection is often affected by the relative age effects (RAEs), resulting in the overrepresentation of relatively older (vs. relatively younger) players among those selected. The use of sport-specific tasks is suggested to reduce RAEs during talent selection.

How Length Sizes Affect Body Composition Estimation in Adolescent Athletes Using Bioelectrical Impedance.

Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) is a common practice to assess body composition in athletes, however, when measuring athletes with specific body geometry, its accuracy may decrease. In this study we examined how length dimensions affect body composition estimation and we compared BIA and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) assessments in three sports. 738 male adolescent athletes (15.

Vertical Jump Performance in Hungarian Male Elite Junior Soccer Players.

Purpose: Vertical jump is a common test to measure impulsive ability in soccer; however, limited normative data have been published on young soccer players from vertical jump measurements on a force platform. The purpose of this study was to provide normative values for three chronological age groups of male junior soccer players (U16, U17 and, U18 years).

Method: Vertical jump performance of 365 soccer players (16.