Assessing the role of adolescent hormonal contraceptive use on risk for depression: a 3-year longitudinal study protocol.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The incidence of depression in human females rises steadily throughout adolescence, a critical period of pubertal maturation marked by increasing levels of gonadal hormones including estrogens and progesterone. These gonadal hormones play a central role in social and emotional development and may also contribute to the increased occurrence of depression in females that begins in early adolescence. In this study, we examine whether and how introducing synthetic estrogen and progestin derivatives through the use of combined hormonal contraceptives (CHC), affects adolescent females' risk for developing depression. We further assess potential links between CHC use and alterations in stress responses and social-emotional functioning.

Methods

Using a longitudinal cohort

SUBMITTER: Zareian B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8864455 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature