Relationships between adrenarcheal hormones, hippocampal volumes and depressive symptoms in children

Abstract

Early timing of puberty (i.e., advanced pubertal maturation relative to same-age peers) has been associated with depressive symptoms during adolescence. To date, research on this relationship has focused on gonadarche, the second phase of puberty, while less is known about the first phase of puberty, adrenarche. Increasing evidence suggests that androgens that rise during adrenarche, most notably dehyrdoepiandrosterone (DHEA) and testosterone, may be involved both in the development of the hippocampus, and risk for depression. The current study investigated whether hippocampal volumes mediated the relationship between adrenarcheal timing (based on relative levels of adrenarcheal hormones) an..