Early Pubertal Timing and Testosterone Associated With Higher Levels of Adolescent Depression in Girls.

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 fro

SUBMITTER: Copeland WE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6693999 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature