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. 2020 Sep 30:303:111132.
doi: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2020.111132. Epub 2020 Jun 20.

Trajectories of depressive symptoms through adolescence as predictors of cortical thickness in the orbitofrontal cortex: An examination of sex differences

Johanna D Nielsen  1 , Julia A C Case  2 , Ross M Divers  2 , Marin M Kautz  2 , Lauren B Alloy  2 , Thomas M Olino  2
Affiliations

Trajectories of depressive symptoms through adolescence as predictors of cortical thickness in the orbitofrontal cortex: An examination of sex differences

Johanna D Nielsen et al. Psychiatry Res Neuroimaging. .

Abstract

Previous research has found associations between orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) structure and symptoms of major depression, though specific aspects of this complex relationship remain unclear. The current study examined sex differences in the influence of individual trajectories of depressive symptoms on cortical thickness (CT) in the OFC during late adolescence. Fifty-four participants enrolled in an ongoing longitudinal study completed assessments of depression symptoms at baseline (Mage = 12.09; SD = 1.06) and at 6-month intervals through adolescence, followed by an MRI assessment (Mage = 17.34; SD = 0.98). Estimates of CT in the OFC were obtained using FreeSurfer. Multilevel modeling (MLM) analyses estimated individuals' symptom trajectories, and identified significant variability in trajectories of depressive symptoms. Trajectory estimates were extracted and included as predictors of CT in multiple regression analyses. Results did not reveal any significant main effect associations between trajectories of depression and CT in the OFC. However, sex moderated the associations between slope of depression and CT in the left OFC; the slope of depressive symptoms demonstrated significant, but opposite, associations with CT in the OFC across sexes, such that greater increases in symptoms across time were associated with reduced CT in males, but increased CT in females.

Keywords: Depression; Development; Sex differences; Structural MRI (sMRI).

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Estimated individual (solid lines) and average (dashed line) linear trajectories of depression symptoms over time.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Interaction between sex and the slope of depression symptoms on cortical thickness in the left lateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC).
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Interaction between sex and the slope of depression symptoms on cortical thickness in the left medial orbitofrontal cortex (OFC).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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