Associations between dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) levels, pituitary volume, and social anxiety in children

CR Murray; JG Simmons; NB Allen; ML Byrne; LK Mundy; ML Seal; GC Patton; CA Olsson; S Whittle

Journal article

Associations between dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) levels, pituitary volume, and social anxiety in children

CR Murray, JG Simmons, NB Allen, ML Byrne, LK Mundy, ML Seal, GC Patton, CA Olsson, S Whittle

Psychoneuroendocrinology | Published : 2016

DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2015.11.004

Abstract

Early timing of adrenarche, associated with relatively high levels of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and its sulphate (DHEA-S) in children, has been linked with mental health problems, particularly anxiety. However, little is known about possible neurobiological mechanisms underlying this association. The pituitary gland is a key component of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, the activation of which triggers the onset of adrenarche. The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which pituitary gland volume mediated the relationship between levels of DHEA/DHEA-S relative to age (i.e., adrenarcheal timing) and symptoms of anxiety in 95 children (50 female, M age 9.50 years..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Julian Simmons Author

Nick Allen Author

Lisa Mundy Author

Marc L Seal Author

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Grants

Awarded by Australian Research Council

Funding Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Australian Research Council (Discovery Project grant: DP120101402; Fellowship DORA DP 130101459 to CO), and the National Health and Medical Council (NHMRC; Career Development Fellowship ID 1007716 to SW). We would like to thank all of the families who have participated in this study, and all investigators and staff working on the Childhood to Adolescence Transition Study (CATS) at the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute (MCRI) for making this investigation possible. MCRI research is supported by the Victorian Government's Operational Infrastructure Program. We would also like to thank the research staff who contributed to the collection of research data (Dr Megan Dennison, Dr Rebecca Davenport-Thomas and Dr Rachel Ellis).