Psychosomatic Medicine 12:49-54 (1950)
© 1950 American Psychosomatic Society

Inadequate Masculine Physique

As a Factor In Personality Development of Adolescent Boys

¹ Departments of Psychiatry and Pediatrics, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York

This report is based upon the developmental and psychiatric evaluation of 256 boys who ranged in age from 9 to 16 years at the initial visit and were followed over a period of 6 months to 12 years. The boys presented personality difficulties and emotional conflicts due to fears of physical inadequacy. Many of the variations in pubertal development commonly regarded as endocrine abnormalities are genetically determined physiologic variations in the process of maturation and fall within the limits of normal variability. However, an apparent or actual delay in the age of onset of sexual maturation, the failure of initiation of the growth spurt of pubescence, or inadequacy of masculine development may lead to a variety of personality conflicts and psychosomatic complaints in the early part of the second decade of life. The psychodynamics associated with these personality disorders vary in individual boys. Castration anxieties and feelings of inadequacy play an essential role in the unconscious mechanisms involved. However, conscious motivations seem equally important in this age group and are usually related to the individual's dependence on approval by his companions. Deviation from the group pattern leads to increased feelings of inadequacy with subsequent loss of self-esteem.

Treatment has been discussed from both a psychiatric and a somatic viewpoint, with emphasis on the need for altering the bodily defects responsible for the emotional conflicts. Physical treatment may consist of hormone induction of pubescence or plastic surgery, and is to be regarded as an essential adjuvant to psychotherapeutic procedures. The proper application of psychotherapy remains the mainstay of treatment.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M. T. Daversa and R. A. Knight A Structural Examination of the Predictors of Sexual Coercion Against Children in Adolescent Sexual Offenders Criminal Justice and Behavior, October 1, 2007; 34(10): 1313 - 1333. [Abstract] [PDF]

				J. F. Harper and J. K. Collins The Effects of Early or Late Maturation on the Prestige of the Adolescent Girl Journal of Sociology, January 1, 1972; 8(2): 83 - 88. [PDF]

				C. McGuire Chapter III: Factors Influencing Individual Mental Health Review of Educational Research, December 1, 1956; 26(5): 451 - 478. [PDF]