William E Copeland1, Carol Worthman2, Lilly Shanahan3, E Jane Costello4, Adrian Angold4. 1. Vermont Center for Children, Youth, and Families, University of Vermont, Burlington. Electronic address: William.copeland@med.uvm.edu. 2. Emory University, Atlanta, GA. 3. Jacobs Center for Productive Youth Development, University of Zurich, Switzerland. 4. Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The prevalence of depression increases dramatically during puberty in girls. Earlier work in this sample reported that the sex steroids estradiol and testosterone were associated with increased depression in girls. Using three additional data waves (983 new observations), we retest the relative contributions of pubertal timing, pubertal status, and sex hormones on the increases in female depression. METHOD: Eight waves of data from the prospective, representative Great Smoky Mountains Study were used covering female participants in the community who were 9 to 16 years of age (3,005 assessments of 630 girls; 1993-2000). Structured interviews assessed depressive disorders. Youth rated their pubertal status using Tanner stage drawings, and sex steroids were assayed from dried blood spots. RESULTS: Risk for depression during puberty was associated with both age and Tanner stage in univariate models. In adjusted models accounting for pubertal timing and sex steroids, the apparent effects of age and Tanner stage were attenuated both in terms of statistical significance and effect size. The only significant predictors of change in depression status during puberty were early pubertal timing (odds ratio = 5.8, 95% CI = 1.9-17.9, p = .002 after age 12 years) and higher testosterone levels (odds ratio = 2.0, 95% CI = 1.1-3.8, p = .03 for quartile-split variable). CONCLUSION: The added observations have modified the original conclusions, implicating the following: testosterone only, but not estradiol; and early pubertal timing, but not age or pubertal status per se. These findings argue for multiple pubertal determinants of depression risk, including factors that are socially and biologically mediated.
OBJECTIVE: The prevalence of depression increases dramatically during puberty in girls. Earlier work in this sample reported that the sex steroidsestradiol and testosterone were associated with increased depression in girls. Using three additional data waves (983 new observations), we retest the relative contributions of pubertal timing, pubertal status, and sex hormones on the increases in female depression. METHOD: Eight waves of data from the prospective, representative Great Smoky Mountains Study were used covering female participants in the community who were 9 to 16 years of age (3,005 assessments of 630 girls; 1993-2000). Structured interviews assessed depressive disorders. Youth rated their pubertal status using Tanner stage drawings, and sex steroids were assayed from dried blood spots. RESULTS: Risk for depression during puberty was associated with both age and Tanner stage in univariate models. In adjusted models accounting for pubertal timing and sex steroids, the apparent effects of age and Tanner stage were attenuated both in terms of statistical significance and effect size. The only significant predictors of change in depression status during puberty were early pubertal timing (odds ratio = 5.8, 95% CI = 1.9-17.9, p = .002 after age 12 years) and higher testosterone levels (odds ratio = 2.0, 95% CI = 1.1-3.8, p = .03 for quartile-split variable). CONCLUSION: The added observations have modified the original conclusions, implicating the following: testosterone only, but not estradiol; and early pubertal timing, but not age or pubertal status per se. These findings argue for multiple pubertal determinants of depression risk, including factors that are socially and biologically mediated.
Authors: William Copeland; Lilly Shanahan; Shari Miller; E Jane Costello; Adrian Angold; Barbara Maughan Journal: Am J Psychiatry Date: 2010-05-17 Impact factor: 18.112
Authors: William E Copeland; Adrian Angold; Lilly Shanahan; E Jane Costello Journal: J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry Date: 2013-10-12 Impact factor: 8.829
Authors: Gemma Lewis; Konstantinos Ioannidis; Anne-Laura van Harmelen; Sharon Neufeld; Jan Stochl; Glyn Lewis; Peter B Jones; Ian Goodyer Journal: PLoS One Date: 2018-06-18 Impact factor: 3.752
Authors: Julia E Chafkin; Joseph M O'Brien; Fortunato N Medrano; Hae Yeon Lee; David S Yeager; Robert A Josephs Journal: Compr Psychoneuroendocrinol Date: 2022-04-01
Authors: Deanna M Barch; Elizabeth A Shirtcliff; Nourhan M Elsayed; Diana Whalen; Kirsten Gilbert; Alecia C Vogel; Rebecca Tillman; Joan L Luby Journal: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A Date: 2020-08-24 Impact factor: 11.205
Authors: Julianna Deardorff; Kristine Marceau; Megan Johnson; Jonathan W Reeves; Frank M Biro; Ai Kubo; Louise C Greenspan; Cecile A Laurent; Gayle C Windham; Susan M Pinney; Lawrence H Kushi; Robert A Hiatt Journal: J Adolesc Health Date: 2021-02-23 Impact factor: 7.830
Authors: Tiffany C Ho; Natalie L Colich; Lucinda M Sisk; Kira Oskirko; Booil Jo; Ian H Gotlib Journal: Dev Cogn Neurosci Date: 2020-02-14 Impact factor: 6.464
Authors: Aimée Goldstone; Harold S Javitz; Stephanie A Claudatos; Daniel J Buysse; Brant P Hasler; Massimiliano de Zambotti; Duncan B Clark; Peter L Franzen; Devin E Prouty; Ian M Colrain; Fiona C Baker Journal: J Adolesc Health Date: 2020-02-08 Impact factor: 5.012