The Dynamic Interplay between Puberty and Structural Brain Development as a Predictor of Mental Health Difficulties in Adolescence: a systematic review

Svenja Kretzer; Andrew Lawrence; Rebecca Pollard; Xuemei Ma; Pei Jung Chen; Nare Amasi-Hartoonian; Carmine Pariante; Corentin Vallee; Michael Meaney; Paola Dazzan

doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2024.06.012

The Dynamic Interplay between Puberty and Structural Brain Development as a Predictor of Mental Health Difficulties in Adolescence: a systematic review

Svenja Kretzer^*, Andrew Lawrence, Rebecca Pollard, Xuemei Ma, Pei Jung Chen, Nare Amasi-Hartoonian, Carmine Pariante, Corentin Vallee, Michael Meaney, Paola Dazzan^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

Puberty is a time of intense reorganization of brain structure and a high-risk period for the onset of mental health problems, with variations in pubertal timing and tempo intensifying this risk. We conducted 2 systematic reviews of articles published up to February 1, 2024, focusing on 1) the role of brain structure in the relationship between puberty and mental health, and 2) precision psychiatry research evaluating the utility of puberty in making individualized predictions of mental health outcomes in young people. The first review provides inconsistent evidence about whether and how pubertal and psychopathological processes may interact in relation to brain development. While most studies found an association between early puberty and mental health difficulties in adolescents, evidence on whether brain structure mediates this relationship is mixed. The pituitary gland was found to be associated with mental health status during this time, possibly through its central role in regulating puberty and its function in the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axes. In the second review, the design of studies that have explored puberty in predictive models did not allow for a quantification of its predictive power. However, when puberty was evaluated through physically observable characteristics rather than hormonal measures, it was more commonly identified as a predictor of depression, anxiety, and suicidality in adolescence. Social processes may be more relevant than biological ones to the link between puberty and mental health problems and represent an important target for educational strategies.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	585-603
Number of pages	19
Journal	Biological psychiatry
Volume	96
Issue number	7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2024.06.012
Publication status	Published - 24 Jun 2024

Keywords

Puberty
Brain structure
Risk prediction
Mental health
Adolescence
Precision psychiatry

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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Kretzer, S., Lawrence, A., Pollard, R., Ma, X., Chen, P. J., Amasi-Hartoonian, N., Pariante, C., Vallee, C., Meaney, M., & Dazzan, P. (2024). The Dynamic Interplay between Puberty and Structural Brain Development as a Predictor of Mental Health Difficulties in Adolescence: a systematic review. Biological psychiatry, 96(7), 585-603. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2024.06.012

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title = "The Dynamic Interplay between Puberty and Structural Brain Development as a Predictor of Mental Health Difficulties in Adolescence: a systematic review",

abstract = "Puberty is a time of intense reorganization of brain structure and a high-risk period for the onset of mental health problems, with variations in pubertal timing and tempo intensifying this risk. We conducted 2 systematic reviews of articles published up to February 1, 2024, focusing on 1) the role of brain structure in the relationship between puberty and mental health, and 2) precision psychiatry research evaluating the utility of puberty in making individualized predictions of mental health outcomes in young people. The first review provides inconsistent evidence about whether and how pubertal and psychopathological processes may interact in relation to brain development. While most studies found an association between early puberty and mental health difficulties in adolescents, evidence on whether brain structure mediates this relationship is mixed. The pituitary gland was found to be associated with mental health status during this time, possibly through its central role in regulating puberty and its function in the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axes. In the second review, the design of studies that have explored puberty in predictive models did not allow for a quantification of its predictive power. However, when puberty was evaluated through physically observable characteristics rather than hormonal measures, it was more commonly identified as a predictor of depression, anxiety, and suicidality in adolescence. Social processes may be more relevant than biological ones to the link between puberty and mental health problems and represent an important target for educational strategies.",

keywords = "Puberty, Brain structure, Risk prediction, Mental health, Adolescence, Precision psychiatry",

author = "Svenja Kretzer and Andrew Lawrence and Rebecca Pollard and Xuemei Ma and Chen, {Pei Jung} and Nare Amasi-Hartoonian and Carmine Pariante and Corentin Vallee and Michael Meaney and Paola Dazzan",

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Kretzer, S , Lawrence, A , Pollard, R , Ma, X , Chen, PJ , Amasi-Hartoonian, N , Pariante, C , Vallee, C, Meaney, M & Dazzan, P 2024, 'The Dynamic Interplay between Puberty and Structural Brain Development as a Predictor of Mental Health Difficulties in Adolescence: a systematic review', Biological psychiatry, vol. 96, no. 7, pp. 585-603. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2024.06.012

TY - JOUR

T1 - The Dynamic Interplay between Puberty and Structural Brain Development as a Predictor of Mental Health Difficulties in Adolescence: a systematic review

AU - Kretzer, Svenja

AU - Lawrence, Andrew

AU - Pollard, Rebecca

AU - Ma, Xuemei

AU - Chen, Pei Jung

AU - Amasi-Hartoonian, Nare

AU - Pariante, Carmine

AU - Vallee, Corentin

AU - Meaney, Michael

AU - Dazzan, Paola

PY - 2024/6/24

Y1 - 2024/6/24

N2 - Puberty is a time of intense reorganization of brain structure and a high-risk period for the onset of mental health problems, with variations in pubertal timing and tempo intensifying this risk. We conducted 2 systematic reviews of articles published up to February 1, 2024, focusing on 1) the role of brain structure in the relationship between puberty and mental health, and 2) precision psychiatry research evaluating the utility of puberty in making individualized predictions of mental health outcomes in young people. The first review provides inconsistent evidence about whether and how pubertal and psychopathological processes may interact in relation to brain development. While most studies found an association between early puberty and mental health difficulties in adolescents, evidence on whether brain structure mediates this relationship is mixed. The pituitary gland was found to be associated with mental health status during this time, possibly through its central role in regulating puberty and its function in the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axes. In the second review, the design of studies that have explored puberty in predictive models did not allow for a quantification of its predictive power. However, when puberty was evaluated through physically observable characteristics rather than hormonal measures, it was more commonly identified as a predictor of depression, anxiety, and suicidality in adolescence. Social processes may be more relevant than biological ones to the link between puberty and mental health problems and represent an important target for educational strategies.

AB - Puberty is a time of intense reorganization of brain structure and a high-risk period for the onset of mental health problems, with variations in pubertal timing and tempo intensifying this risk. We conducted 2 systematic reviews of articles published up to February 1, 2024, focusing on 1) the role of brain structure in the relationship between puberty and mental health, and 2) precision psychiatry research evaluating the utility of puberty in making individualized predictions of mental health outcomes in young people. The first review provides inconsistent evidence about whether and how pubertal and psychopathological processes may interact in relation to brain development. While most studies found an association between early puberty and mental health difficulties in adolescents, evidence on whether brain structure mediates this relationship is mixed. The pituitary gland was found to be associated with mental health status during this time, possibly through its central role in regulating puberty and its function in the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axes. In the second review, the design of studies that have explored puberty in predictive models did not allow for a quantification of its predictive power. However, when puberty was evaluated through physically observable characteristics rather than hormonal measures, it was more commonly identified as a predictor of depression, anxiety, and suicidality in adolescence. Social processes may be more relevant than biological ones to the link between puberty and mental health problems and represent an important target for educational strategies.

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KW - Brain structure

KW - Risk prediction

KW - Mental health

KW - Adolescence

KW - Precision psychiatry

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DO - 10.1016/j.biopsych.2024.06.012

M3 - Review article

SN - 0006-3223

VL - 96

SP - 585

EP - 603

JO - Biological psychiatry

JF - Biological psychiatry

IS - 7

ER -

The Dynamic Interplay between Puberty and Structural Brain Development as a Predictor of Mental Health Difficulties in Adolescence: a systematic review

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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