Exploring profiles of hormone exposure: Associations with cognition in a population‐based cohort of early adolescents

Abstract

During adolescence, increases in pubertal hormones lead to reproductive maturity as well as changes in cognitive development. Yet, little is known about how to best characterize interindividual differences in hormone concentrations. The goal of the current study was to examine the antecedents and consequences of membership in empirically derived hormone profiles. Data were drawn from 10,816 youth (48.1% female, Mage = 9.91, SDage = 0.63) in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. Latent profile analysis (LPA) stratified by sex was used to derive hormone profiles using basal testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone and estradiol (girls only). Eight profiles (four female profiles and four male profiles) were identified. They primarily represented differences in hormone levels (e.g., low hormonal milieus vs. high hormonal milieus), but also reflected discordance (e.g., high estradiol versus. high testosterone). There were limited sociodemographic differences, particularly after correcting for multiple comparisons, but youth with higher hormone milieus exhibited better inhibitory control, visuospatial processing and decision‐making skills even after adjusting for age, pubertal status and demographic data. Thus, youth‐centered approaches that focus on patterns of individual characteristics suggest that hormonal markers may provide unique information about associations between biological and cognitive development.Highlights Latent profile analysis was used to derive constellations of testosterone, DHEA and estradiol (girls only) in a population sample of early adolescents. Hormonal milieus were indexed by four female and four male profiles, varying primarily in hormone levels (i.e., low, average or high hormonal milieus), but also exhibiting some discordance (i.e., high DHEA, high testosterone, or high estradiol). Higher pubertal status was typically associated with higher hormone levels, but pubertal status did not always differentiate between profiles that exhibited discordance. In general, youth in profiles with higher hormone levels had better inhibitory control, visuospatial processing and decision‐making skills 2 years later compared to those in profiles with lower hormone levels.

Registered Reports with secondary developmental data: Introduction to the special issue

“…Several studies focused on the schooling context: Spiegler et al (2024) used the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Survey in Four European Countries to examine how peer victimisation was related to classroom ethnic diversity and teacher interactions; Kim and Sidney (2024) used the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study to examine sources of influences for individual differences in students' academic self‐concept; and Zimmermann et al (2024) used the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten class of 2011 to understand how pre‐Kindergarten enrollment was related to indicators of social development across the transition into and out of Kindergarten. Finally, two studies examined physiological aspects of development: Chaku and Barry (2024) used the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study to understand how hormonal profiles were associated with cognitive development, and Woods et al (2024) drew from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study to test whether indicators of sleep were longitudinally associated with cognitive and behavioural development.…”