Deakin University
Browse

File(s) under permanent embargo

Developmental brain changes during puberty and associations with mental health problems

journal contribution
posted on 2023-04-28, 06:41 authored by N Dehestani, S Whittle, Nandi VijayakumarNandi Vijayakumar, Tim SilkTim Silk
Background: Our understanding of the mechanisms relating pubertal timing to mental health problems via brain development remains rudimentary. Method: Longitudinal data was sourced from ∼11,500 children from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study (age 9–13years). We built models of “brain age” and “puberty age” as indices of brain and pubertal development. Residuals from these models were used to index individual differences in brain development and pubertal timing, respectively. Mixed-effects models were used to investigate associations between pubertal timing and regional and global brain development. Mediation models were used to investigate the indirect effect of pubertal timing on mental health problems via brain development. Results: Earlier pubertal timing was associated with accelerated brain development, particularly of subcortical and frontal regions in females and subcortical regions in males. While earlier pubertal timing was associated with elevated mental health problems in both sexes, brain age did not predict mental health problems, nor did it mediate associations between pubertal timing and mental health problems. Conclusion: This study highlights the importance of pubertal timing as a marker associated with brain maturation and mental health problems.

History

Journal

Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience

Volume

60

Article number

101227

Pagination

101227-101227

Location

Netherlands

ISSN

1878-9293

eISSN

1878-9307

Language

en

Publisher

Elsevier BV