Core self-evaluations, psychological capital, social comparison, and socioeconomic status: an analysis of Generation Z's satisfaction in the post-pandemic era.

Biological maturation is an influencing factor of performance in adolescents, influencing both aerobic and anaerobic capacity (). A commonly used method for assessing maturity status is the estimated age to achieve the Peak Height Velocity (PHV), obtained with the maturity offset, which represents the age from the PHV. If this value is positive, the subject has already passed the PHV; if this value is negative, the subject has yet to reach the PHV. This allows to estimate the degree of maturation in young athletes. Maturity status can be determined directly via hand-wrist radiography or predicted via non-invasive field-based methods. Among these, the equation proposed by Mirwald et al. (2002) is the most commonly used in youth sports and is based on non-invasive anthropometric measurements such as height, weight, sitting height, and leg length, in addition to chronological age (). Subsequently, Kozieł and Malina (2018) introduced a modified version designed to minimize the systematic error present in the original equation, particularly in subjects close to PHV (). Although both equations offer good predictive accuracy, several researchers have noted that they can introduce bias in sports, specifically by predicting the age of PHV too early in younger subjects and too late in more developed subjects (, ). The period around the PHV is characterized by morphological and functional changes. During puberty, a rapid increase in lean mass, muscle strength, and power generation occurs, along with an augment in cardiovascular capacity such as stroke volume (). These changes are associated with an increase in absolute aerobic capacity, although, once normalized for body weight, the influence of maturation tends to decrease. At the same time, the progressive maturation of glycolytic enzyme systems and the increase in the availability of energy substrates lead to an enhancement in anaerobic capacity and lactate tolerance ().