Crucial adolescent girls for the intervention of depression, discovers the study

Depression in young adolescents could be easier to treat than adulthood due to more flexible and not anchored symptoms, a study published in the journal Mental health nature shows.

The researchers found that the interactions between depressive symptoms – such as sadness, fatigue and a lack of interest – are less predictable in adolescents but become more fixed in adults, which can cause persistent depression.

The results highlight the importance of targeting depression at an early age, when the symptoms are still changing, according to experts.

Depression is a complex condition, characterized by a range of connected symptoms. Current interventions treat the overall seriousness of depression and do not consider how symptoms interact and evolve over time.

Scientists from the University of Edinburgh have analyzed data of more than 35,000 young people to grasp how symptoms of depression interact throughout adolescence. The study borrowed and applied an understanding of how temperature affects physics matter.

As the temperature increases, the particles move more freely and the system becomes less stable, which can be considered as the material goes from solid to gas.

The research team applied this idea to the symptoms of depression, using a network analysis where symptoms are connected like nodes in a web. From this, they calculated the “network temperature” to capture how fixed or flexible symptom models.

Symptom patterns are becoming more stable through adolescence, individuals are more likely to be depressed in a persistent manner or feeling no depressive symptoms, while symptoms fluctuate at a younger age.

Experts say that the variability observed in the depression of adolescents is likely to be influenced by three main factors: puberty and hormones; continuous brain development; and social and environmental influences.

Researchers also found that in adolescents, the symptoms of depression stabilize more quickly in boys than girls, leaving less time for risk factors or protection to have an effect. Symptoms in adolescent girls continue to fluctuate over a longer period.

A targeted support for young adolescents while the symptoms are flexible and more sensitive to treatment could help prevent persistent depression in adulthood, according to the research team.

The results could also help to explain why some adults – with stable symptoms that are unable to change – experienced depression that resists treatment. But experts say that additional research is needed to explore theory.

The research team included scientists from the University of Strathclyde, College London University, the Karolinska Institute and the National University of Singapore.

Poppy Grimes, lead in study and doctorate. The student of the Center for Clinical Brain Sciences at the University of Edinburgh, said: “What is exciting in this study is the introduction of a new approach to grasp how the symptoms of depression interact and evolve over time, offering a new lens to understand mental health in young people.

“It is surprising to see how symptom patterns change so considerably at the start of adolescence, stressing the importance of the time of personalized care and adapted to age. This insight could extend to other conditions such as anxiety and help identify critical intervention windows, especially during puberty.”