Examining the developmental interface of cortisol and depression symptoms in young adolescent girls

Abstract

Despite the substantial amount of data supporting a link between HPA-axis functioning and depression, the ontogeny of this association is not known. The aim of the present study was to contribute data on the developmental interface of HPA-axis functioning and depression in girls by testing associations between repeated measures of depression symptoms and cortisol levels in childhood and early adolescence. Girls (N= 232) and their mothers, who were participating in a longitudinal study, were interviewed about depression symptoms annually from ages 9 to 12 years. Cortisol was assayed from saliva at ages 10 and 12 years upon arrival to the lab and following administration of the cold pressor task (CPT). Time of day of collection of saliva and level of pubertal development were included as covariates in model testing. Although most girls did not show an increase in cortisol in response to the CPT, lower levels of output during the CPT were associated with higher levels of depression symptoms. These findings were observed only for cortisol levels assessed at age 12 years. Girls with low levels of cortisol output at age 12, and decreases in output from ages 10 to 12, had stable or slightly increasing depression symptoms from ages 9 to 12 years. We conclude that associations between HPA-axis functioning and depression emerge as early as age 12. However, individual differences in cortisol levels at age 12 also were associated with depression symptoms at earlier ages. The data suggest two possibilities: 1) that childhood depression is associated with HPA-axis dysregulation, but that age related changes in the sensitivity or plasticity of the HPA-axis may result in a delay in the emergence of such an association, or 2) that dysregulation of the functioning of the HPA-axis develops following repeated experience of depression symptoms.

HPA-axis reactivity interacts with stage of pubertal development to predict the onset of depression

“…Given that Tanner stage 2 signifies the beginning of pubertal development, our results in prepubertal girls provide further support that cortisol has a different relation with psychopathology prior to than following the onset of puberty. Such findings, taken in conjunction with our results in post-pubertal girls, demonstrate that cortisol reactivity has different effects over the transition through puberty, and may help to resolve discrepancies in the literature concerning findings that both hypo- and hyperreactivity of cortisol is related to the development of MDD (Susman et al, 1997; Keenan et al, 2013). Thus, our findings underscore the need for future studies to consider pubertal stage when examining the association between HPA-axis responsivity and mental health outcome.…”

“…For example, Susman et al (1997) found that 9- to 15-year-old adolescents who had a greater cortisol response to a novel and challenging situation reported higher levels of depressive symptoms one year later. In contrast, however, Keenan et al (2013) found that younger, 10- to 12-year-old, girls who exhibited a blunted cortisol response to a laboratory stressor and who had low absolute levels of cortisol secretion at age 12 experienced a subsequent increase in depressive symptoms. Given the changes in cortisol functioning that accompany pubertal development, it is possible that inconsistencies in previous findings are due, in part, to the different developmental stages at which participants were assessed across studies; that is, it appears that increases in depressive symptoms are predicted by blunted cortisol reactivity in younger girls, but by elevated cortisol reactivity in older girls.…”

Low levels of morning salivary α-amylase activity predict higher number of depressive symptoms in a community sample of children

“…A similar conclusion was reached by Vrshek-Schallhorn et al (2013) and Nelemans et al (2014). Finally, Keenan et al (2013) studied the specific association between the cortisol response to a laboratory stressor and depressive symptomatology in a cohort of 232 girls at 10 years and 12 years of age and their mothers. They reported that associations between HPA axis functioning and depression emerged around age 12.…”

A Randomized Controlled Trial to Prevent Depression and Ameliorate Insulin Resistance in Adolescent Girls at Risk for Type 2 Diabetes

“…Greater depressive symptoms have been related to a more blunted physiological baseline cortisol reaction to a CPT (21). Prior studies have also found that youth who display a blunted cortisol response to a stressor are more likely to experience recurrence of depressive symptoms than those who react physiologically to an acute stressor (47).…”