Neurophysiology, Estrogen, and Stress Exposure in the Emergence of Depression in Adolescent Girls
Completed
Conditions studied: Adolescent Development, Stress, Emotional Disturbances
In brief
The prevalence of adolescent depression is steadily rising in the U.S., especially among adolescent girls. Currently 20% of adolescent girls experience major depression compared with 6% of boys (National Institute of Mental Health, 2016). The profound gender disparity in depression that emerges at puberty, but not before, implicates a role of ovarian steroid hormones in promoting affective (mood) symptoms in adolescent girls. In addition to dramatic physical maturation and a rapidly changing reproductive hormone environment at puberty, adolescence is also a time of exposure to substantial psychosocial stress, particularly in girls. It is well documented that stress interferes with the maturation of neurodevelopmental trajectories and is a critical precipitating factor in the pathway to psychopathology. However, the neuropathophysiological mechanisms linking stress exposure and sensitivity to ovarian hormone fluctuations at puberty to the onset and maintenance of depression symptoms in adolescence have yet to be elucidated, and is the purpose of this research.
Key facts
- Study ID
- NCT03450135
- Run by
- University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
- People needed
- 53
- Starts
- 2018-02-25
- Expected to finish
- 2020-06-30
- Last updated by the study team
- 2020-11-24
Who can join
Age: 11 and older, up to 14. Sex: female. Healthy volunteers: accepted.
You may qualify if…
- Female, 11 to 14 years of age
- Meet Tanner developmental stage criteria (as indicated by self-report and pictorial scales of breast and pubic hair development) for pubertal stages 3 or 4
- Must be undergoing a healthy pubertal transition, pre-or-post menarche (within 15 months of menarche, with cycle irregularity)
- Girls must be able to read at a 4th-grade reading level
You may not qualify if…
- Current suicidal intent (based off Columbia-Suicide Severity rating scale)
- A history or current diagnosis of bipolar disorder or psychosis
- Currently on any prescription medications
Where it is running
- University of North Carolina, SHARRP Lab — Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States
Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov
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