ArticlePloS one2018
The association between pubertal status and depressive symptoms and diagnoses in adolescent females: A population-based cohort study.
Article in PloS one, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 32 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
32 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 68 citations in OpenAlex.
- Associations Between Pubertal Stage and Depression: A Systematic Review of the Literature.Child psychiatry and human development · 2023Pooled it
- Health-related quality of life scores of typically developing children and adolescents around the world: a meta-analysis with meta-regression.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2020Pooled it
- The association between pubertal timing and diurnal cortisol activity in middle adolescence.Stress (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2026Article
- How changes in pubertal status and chronological age shape individual depressive symptoms by sex: testing a pathoplasty model.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2026Article
- The sex-specific role of adrenal androgens in youth psychopathology.Translational psychiatry · 2026Article
- Mapping the Network Structure of Psychosocial Symptoms and School Well-Being Across Gender in Secondary School Students.European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education · 2026Article
- Sex-Specific Oral Health: A Narrative Review of Hormonal Influences and Disease Patterns.Dentistry journal · 2026Review
- Emotion and peer problems in autistic adolescents: The role of puberty, school adjustment and bullying.JCPP advances · 2025Article
- Dysmenorrhea and Adolescent Mental Health: A School-Based Cross-Sectional Study.BJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology · 2025Article
- The association between adaptability and the symptoms of depression and anxiety in early adolescents: a network analysis in a longitudinal design.BMC psychiatry · 2025Article
- Longitudinal and Gender Measurement Invariance of the General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12) From Adolescence to Emerging Adulthood.Assessment · 2024Article
- Pubertal hormones and mental health problems in children and adolescents: a systematic review of population-based studies.EClinicalMedicine · 2024Review
- The Association Between Changes in Body Mass Index and the Risk of Depression.Alpha psychiatry · 2024Article
- Article
- Internalizing Symptoms among Kosovar Adolescents: Pubertal Correlates in Boys and Girls.Journal of child & adolescent trauma · 2024Article
- Exploring sex differences in trajectories of pubertal development and mental health following early adversity.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2024Article
- Estradiol effects on an emotional interference task in adolescents with current and remitted depression.Hormones and behavior · 2024Article
- A Close Association between Body Weight, Health-Related Quality of Life, and Risk Behaviors in a Sample of Italian High School Students.Nutrients · 2023Article
- Article
- The relationship between timing of onset of menarche and depressive symptoms from adolescence to adulthood.Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThere is an association between puberty and depression, but many things remain poorly understood. When assessing puberty in females, most studies combine indicators of breast and pubic hair development which are controlled by different hormonal pathways. The contributions of pubertal timing (age at onset) and pubertal status (stage of development, irrespective of timing) are also poorly understood. We tested the hypothesis that stage of breast development in female adolescents, controlled largely by increased estradiol, would be more strongly associated with depression than pubic hair development which occurs in both males and females, and is controlled by adrenal androgens. We investigated whether this association was independent of pubertal timing.
methodsROOTS is an ongoing cohort of 1,238 adolescents (54% female) recruited in Cambridgeshire (UK) at age 14.5, and followed-up at ages 16 and 17.5. Depression was assessed using the Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (MFQ) and clinical interview. Breast and pubic hair development were assessed at 14.5, using Tanner rating scales.
resultsFor each increase in Tanner breast stage at 14.5, depressive symptoms increased by 1.4 MFQ points (95% CI 0.6 to 2.3), irrespective of age at onset. Pubic hair status was only associated with depressive symptoms before adjustment for breast status, and was not associated with depression in males. The same pattern was observed longitudinally, and for depression diagnoses. LIMITATIONS: We did not directly measure hormone levels, our findings are observational, and the study had a relatively low response rate.
conclusionsFemales at more advanced stages of breast development are at increased risk of depression, even if their age at pubertal onset is not early. Alongside social and psychological factors, hormones controlling breast but not pubic hair development may contribute to increased incidence of female depression during puberty.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.