Top

Published in:

01-12-2014 | Original Article

Early and late menarche and risk of depressive symptoms in young adulthood

Authors: April Opoliner, Jenny L. Carwile, Deborah Blacker, Garrett M. Fitzmaurice, S. Bryn Austin

Published in: Archives of Women's Mental Health | Issue 6/2014

Abstract

We investigated whether girls experiencing early menarche have an increased risk of depression during young adulthood. This study used data collected in the Growing Up Today Study (N = 9,039), an ongoing prospective cohort of the daughters of women enrolled in the Nurses’ Health Study II. After excluding girls who were postmenarcheal at baseline in 1996, <20 or ≥26 years old in 2007, or missing data on key covariates, the final sample size was 3,711. Self-reported age at menarche was collected annually. Depressive symptomatology was measured in 2007 using the 10-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D-10) score. Sixteen percent of girls (N = 596) reported high levels of depressive symptoms (CES-D-10 ≥ 14) in 2007. Neither early nor late menarche was associated with high depressive symptoms (for early vs. normative menarche, odds ratio (OR) = 1.08, 95 % confidence interval (CI) = 0.85–1.38; for late vs. normative menarche, OR = 0.91, 95 % CI = 0.70–1.18) or with differences in continuous CES-D-10 score in young adulthood. Although previous studies suggest that girls with early menarche suffer from an increased risk of adolescent depression, this does not appear to persist into young adulthood.

Available only for authorised users

Angold A, Costello EJ (2006) Puberty and depression. Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am 15(4):919–937. doi:10.1016/j.chc.2006.05.013, ixPubMedCrossRef

Angold A, Worthman CW (1993) Puberty onset of gender differences in rates of depression: a developmental, epidemiologic and neuroendocrine perspective. J Affect Disord 29(2–3):145–158PubMedCrossRef

Bernstein DP, Stein JA, Newcomb MD, Walker E, Pogge D, Ahluvalia T, Stokes J, Handelsman L, Medrano M, Desmond D, Zule W (2003) Development and validation of a brief screening version of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. Child Abuse Negl 27(2):169–190PubMedCrossRef

Black SR, Klein DN (2012) Early menarcheal age and risk for later depressive symptomatology: the role of childhood depressive symptoms. J Youth Adolesc 41(9):1142–1150. doi:10.1007/s10964-012-9758-7 PubMedCentralPubMedCrossRef

Boden JM, Fergusson DM, Horwood LJ (2011) Age of menarche and psychosocial outcomes in a New Zealand birth cohort. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 50(2):132–140 e135. doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2010.11.007 PubMedCrossRef

Boynton-Jarrett R, Harville EW (2012) A prospective study of childhood social hardships and age at menarche. Ann Epidemiol 22(10):731–737. doi:10.1016/j.annepidem.2012.08.005 PubMedCentralPubMedCrossRef

Boynton-Jarrett R, Wright RJ, Putnam FW, Lividoti Hibert E, Michels KB, Forman MR, Rich-Edwards J (2013) Childhood abuse and age at menarche. J Adolesc Health 52(2):241–247. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2012.06.006 PubMedCentralPubMedCrossRef

Brown J, Cohen P, Johnson JG, Smailes EM (1999) Childhood abuse and neglect: specificity of effects on adolescent and young adult depression and suicidality. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 38(12):1490–1496. doi:10.1097/00004583-199912000-00009 PubMedCrossRef

Chumlea WC, Schubert CM, Roche AF, Kulin HE, Lee PA, Himes JH, Sun SS (2003) Age at menarche and racial comparisons in US girls. Pediatrics 111(1):110–113PubMedCrossRef

Copeland W, Shanahan L, Miller S, Costello EJ, Angold A, Maughan B (2010) Outcomes of early pubertal timing in young women: a prospective population-based study. Am J Psychiatry 167(10):1218–1225. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.2010.09081190 PubMedCentralPubMedCrossRef

Costello EJ, Worthman C, Erkanli A, Angold A (2007) Prediction from low birth weight to female adolescent depression: a test of competing hypotheses. Arch Gen Psychiatry 64(3):338–344. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.64.3.338 PubMedCrossRef

Deng F, Tao FB, Wan YH, Hao JH, Su PY, Cao YX (2011) Early menarche and psychopathological symptoms in young Chinese women. J Womens Health (Larchmt) 20(2):207–213. doi:10.1089/jwh.2010.2102 CrossRef

Ge X, Conger RD, Elder GH Jr (2001) Pubertal transition, stressful life events, and the emergence of gender differences in adolescent depressive symptoms. Dev Psychol 37(3):404–417PubMedCrossRef

Graber JA, Seeley JR, Brooks-Gunn J, Lewinsohn PM (2004) Is pubertal timing associated with psychopathology in young adulthood. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 43(6):718–726. doi:10.1097/01.chi.0000120022.14101.11 PubMedCrossRef

Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (2010) GBD 2010 change in leading causes and risks between 1990 and 2010. http://www.healthmetricsandevaluation.org/gbd/visualizations/gbd-2010-change-leading-causes-and-risks-between-1990-and-2010?type=arrows&cr=cause&metric=YLD&region=0&sex=2&age=99&yr=2010&sortRef=0&rankRange=25&arrowDimen=full

James-Todd T, Tehranifar P, Rich-Edwards J, Titievsky L, Terry MB (2010) The impact of socioeconomic status across early life on age at menarche among a racially diverse population of girls. Ann Epidemiol 20(11):836–842. doi:10.1016/j.annepidem.2010.08.006 PubMedCentralPubMedCrossRef

Joinson C, Heron J, Lewis G, Croudace T, Araya R (2011) Timing of menarche and depressive symptoms in adolescent girls from a UK cohort. Br J Psychiatry 198(1):17–23. doi:10.1192/bjp.bp.110.080861, sup 11-12PubMedCrossRef

Kaplowitz PB (2008) Link between body fat and the timing of puberty. Pediatrics 121(Suppl 3):S208–S217PubMedCrossRef

Kessler RC, Berglund P, Demler O, Jin R, Koretz D, Merikangas KR, Rush AJ, Walters EE, Wang PS (2003) The epidemiology of major depressive disorder: results from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R). JAMA 289(23):3095–3105. doi:10.1001/jama.289.23.3095 PubMedCrossRef

Kessler RC, Walters EE (1998) Epidemiology of DSM-III-R major depression and minor depression among adolescents and young adults in the National Comorbidity Survey. Depress Anxiety 7(1):3–14PubMedCrossRef

Koo MM, Rohan TE (1997) Accuracy of short-term recall of age at menarche. Ann Hum Biol 24(1):61–64PubMedCrossRef

Kuczmarski RJ, Ogden CL, Guo SS, Grummer-Strawn LM, Flegal KM, Mei Z, Wei R, Curtin LR, Roche AF, Johnson CL (2002) 2000 CDC Growth Charts for the United States: methods and development. Vital Health Stat 11(246):1–190

Lien L, Haavet OR, Dalgard F (2010) Do mental health and behavioural problems of early menarche persist into late adolescence? A three year follow-up study among adolescent girls in Oslo, Norway. Soc Sci Med 71(3):529–533. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2010.05.003 PubMedCrossRef

Natsuaki MN, Biehl MC, Ge X (2009) Trajectories of depressed mood from early adolescence to young adulthood: the effects of pubertal timing and adolescent dating. J Res Adolesc 19(1):47–74CrossRef

Radloff LS (1977) The CES-D scale: a self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Appl Psychol Meas 1(3):385–401CrossRef

Radloff LS (1991) The use of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale in adolescents and young adults. J Youth Adolesc 20(2):149–166PubMedCrossRef

Roberts AL, Rosario M, Slopen N, Calzo JP, Austin SB (2013) Childhood gender nonconformity, bullying victimization, and depressive symptoms across adolescence and early adulthood: an 11-year longitudinal study. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 52(2):143–152. doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2012.11.006 PubMedCentralPubMedCrossRef

Rockett HR, Berkey CS, Field AE, Colditz GA (2001) Cross-sectional measurement of nutrient intake among adolescents in 1996. Prev Med 33(1):27–37. doi:10.1006/pmed.2001.0850 PubMedCrossRef

Sanchez-Villegas A, Field AE, O’Reilly EJ, Fava M, Gortmaker S, Kawachi I, Ascherio A (2013) Perceived and actual obesity in childhood and adolescence and risk of adult depression. J Epidemiol Community Health 67(1):81–86. doi:10.1136/jech-2012-201435 PubMedCrossRef

Straus MA, Hamby SL, Boney-McCoy S, Sugarman DB (1996) The revised conflict tactics scales (CTS2): development and preliminary psychometric data. J Fam Issues 17(3):283–316CrossRef

Title: Early and late menarche and risk of depressive symptoms in young adulthood
Authors: April Opoliner
Jenny L. Carwile
Deborah Blacker
Garrett M. Fitzmaurice
S. Bryn Austin
Publication date: 01-12-2014
Publisher: Springer Vienna
Published in: Archives of Women's Mental Health / Issue 6/2014
Print ISSN: 1434-1816
Electronic ISSN: 1435-1102
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-014-0435-6

At a glance: The ONWARDS insulin icodec trials

Springer Medicine

Early and late menarche and risk of depressive symptoms in young adulthood

Abstract

At a glance: The ONWARDS insulin icodec trials

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 6/2014

Cumulative psychosocial stress, coping resources, and preterm birth

Menopausal status could modulate the association between 5-HTTLPR and antidepressant efficacy in depressed women: a pilot study

Pilot early intervention antenatal group program for pregnant women with anxiety and depression

Applying polygenic risk scores to postpartum depression

Prevalence of atypical antipsychotic use in psychiatric outpatients: comparison of women of childbearing age with men

Characteristics and quality of life of opioid-dependent pregnant women in Austria