Pituitary volume mediates the relationship between pubertal timing and depressive symptoms during adolescence

S Whittle; M Yücel; V Lorenzetti; ML Byrne; JG Simmons; SJ Wood; C Pantelis; NB Allen

Journal article

Pituitary volume mediates the relationship between pubertal timing and depressive symptoms during adolescence

S Whittle, M Yücel, V Lorenzetti, ML Byrne, JG Simmons, SJ Wood, C Pantelis, NB Allen

Psychoneuroendocrinology | PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD | Published : 2012

DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2011.10.004

Abstract

Early timing of puberty (i.e., advanced pubertal maturation relative to peers) has been linked to the onset of depressive symptoms during the early adolescent phase. However, the precise neurobiological mechanisms linking early pubertal timing to adolescent depressive symptoms are not clear. We investigated whether the volume of the pituitary gland, a key component of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axes, mediated the relationship between pubertal timing and depressive symptoms in 155 adolescents (72 females) both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. At baseline (. M age 12.7, . SD 0.5 years), early pubertal timing predicted larger pituitary..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Sarah Whittle Author

Julian Simmons Author

Stephen Wood Author

Christos Pantelis Author

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Grants

Awarded by Australian Research Council

Funding Acknowledgements

Neuroimaging analysis was facilitated by the Neuropsychiatry Imaging Laboratory managed by Ms. Bridget Soulsby at the Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre and supported by Neurosciences Victoria. The authors would like to thank the Brain Research Institute for support in acquiring the neuroimaging data and the families who participated in the study.