Elevated morning cortisol is a stratified population-level biomarker for major depression in boys only with high depressive symptoms

Summary & key facts

Researchers studied adolescents using repeated measures of early-morning cortisol and self-reported depressive symptoms. They found a distinct subgroup (17% of the sample) with both high depressive symptoms and higher morning cortisol. This subgroup showed worse autobiographical memory in both sexes and a higher chance of developing major depression later on in boys only. The findings point to a possible biological marker that, together with symptoms, identifies a higher-risk group among boys.

Key facts:

• The study used repeated measurements of early-morning cortisol and self-reported depressive symptoms in a population-based sample of adolescents.
• Latent class analysis identified a high-risk subgroup that made up 17% of the sample; this subgroup had both high depressive symptoms and elevated morning cortisol.
• Membership in this high-risk subgroup was linked with impaired autobiographical memory recall in both boys and girls.
• Membership in the same subgroup was associated with the greatest likelihood of later developing major depressive disorder (MD) in boys only, not in girls.
• The authors note there were previously no validated biomarkers for depression in young people at the population level, and this study identifies a biobehavioral combination (high symptoms + high morning cortisol) as a potential stratified b
• The paper describes these results as population-level associations and does not claim a proven cause-effect relationship; the findings were presented as novel and in need of further study.

Abstract

Major depressive disorder (MD) is a debilitating public mental health problem with severe societal and personal costs attached. Around one in six people will suffer from this complex disorder at some point in their lives, which has shown considerable etiological and clinical heterogeneity. Overall there remain no validated biomarkers in the youth population at large that can aid the detection of at-risk groups for depression in general and for boys and young men in particular. Using repeated measurements of two well-known correlates of MD (self-reported current depressive symptoms and early-morning cortisol), we undertook a population-based investigation to ascertain subtypes of adolescents that represent separate longitudinal phenotypes. Subsequently, we tested for differential risks for MD and other mental illnesses and cognitive differences between subtypes. Through the use of latent class analysis, we revealed a high-risk subtype (17% of the sample) demarcated by both high depressive symptoms and elevated cortisol levels. Membership of this class of individuals was associated with increased levels of impaired autobiographical memory recall in both sexes and the greatest likelihood of experiencing MD in boys only. These previously unidentified findings demonstrate at the population level a class of adolescents with a common physiological biomarker specifically for MD in boys and for a mnemonic vulnerability in both sexes. We suggest that the biobehavioral combination of high depressive symptoms and elevated morning cortisol is particularly hazardous for adolescent boys.

Topics

Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development Stress Responses and Cortisol Tryptophan and brain disorders

Categories

Behavioral Neuroscience Life Sciences Neuroscience

Tags

Biochemistry Biology Biomarker Clinical psychology Clinical significance Cortisol awakening response Depression (economics) Economics Environmental health Hydrocortisone Internal medicine Macroeconomics Medicine Mood Morning Population Psychiatry Psychology Psychosocial Subclinical infection

Conditions & symptoms

Depression Sadness or low mood