Longitudinal associations between depressive symptoms and brain structure across late childhood and adolescence: A panel network analysis study

Biological Psychiatry Global Open Science, pp. 100824

Abstract

Background Major depressive disorder (MDD) is the leading cause of non-fatal disability in youth and disproportionately affects adolescent females. Structural MRI studies of adolescent depression have yielded inconsistent findings, potentially reflecting symptom heterogeneity and rapid developmental changes in brain morphology. Methods We examined associations between specific depressive symptoms and structural brain MRI measures in 9,761 youth (53.1% male, age range = 8.32–18.0) from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study across four waves. A panel graphical vector autoregression (GVAR) model separated within-person (contemporaneous and temporal) from between-person effects. Brain measures included cortical thickness in four regions, hippocampal volume, and global surface area. Depressive symptoms included parent-reported depressed mood, anhedonia, lethargy, worthlessness, and sleep problems. Sex differences in network structure were also examined. Results Strong within-domain associations were observed among brain measures and symptoms. Cross-domain associations emerged at both within-person and between-person levels. Within persons, higher depressed mood predicted subsequent decreases in global surface area, whereas higher worthlessness predicted subsequent increases; depressed mood was also linked to mOFC thickness over time and to lower global surface area concurrently. At the between-person level, individuals with higher average anhedonia showed lower average global surface area. Sex differences were confined to the within-person networks. Conclusions Brain-symptom associations were subtle, symptom-specific and present across network levels with differential edge stability. Global surface area emerged as the primary structural correlate. Longitudinal within-person approaches capture the coupling of within-person deviations from expected brain and symptom trajectories, complementing between-person approaches in understanding brain-depression co-fluctuation during adolescence.

Authors 9

1. Eira Ranheim Aksnes corresponding

   University of Oslo · Diakonhjemmet Hospital

   Affiliation as printed

   Division of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Oslo, Norway

   PROMENTA Research Center, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

2. Dani Beck

   University of Oslo

   Affiliation as printed

   PROMENTA Research Center, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

3. Niamh MacSweeney

   University of Oslo · Diakonhjemmet Hospital

   Affiliation as printed

   Division of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Oslo, Norway

   PROMENTA Research Center, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

4. Marieke Geerte Nynke Bos Aachen Institute of Psychology, Leiden University Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands

   Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands

5. Lia Ferschmann

   Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies

   Affiliation as printed

   Norwegian Center for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies, Oslo, Norway

6. Linn Bonaventure Norbom

   University of Oslo

   Affiliation as printed

   PROMENTA Research Center, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

7. Valerie Karl

   University of Tübingen

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Tübingen Center for Mental Health, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany

8. Lars Tjelta Westlye

   Oslo University Hospital · University of Oslo

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

   KG Jebsen Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

   Section for Precision Psychiatry, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway

9. Christian Krog Tamnes

   University of Oslo · Diakonhjemmet Hospital

   Affiliation as printed

   Division of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Oslo, Norway

   PROMENTA Research Center, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway