Puberty and Mood

Puberty is a period of development characterized by significant physical changes and sexual maturation. With these massive changes occurring, our mood can be influenced during this time as well. Substantive changes like puberty have the potential to put adolescents more at risk for mood disorders and affect how adolescents experience mood. Studies have found that the risk for depressed mood is at its peak during mid-adolescence.

Mood During Puberty
Several studies have shown that adolescents without any mental illnesses have been known to have differing mood-related behavioral experiences based on pubertal development.

Behavior
Adolescents who are in later stages of puberty have been shown to experience greater levels of irritability, rule-breaking, and even substance use in comparison to adolescents at earlier stages in puberty.

Time of Onset
The timing of pubertal development has also been shown to impact adolescents expressions of mood, and behaviors. Some earlier maturing adolescents tend to report more feelings of loneliness, suicidal ideation, and even running away from home. They also report feeling more uncontrolled via behaviors such as destroying items or throwing tantrums. Having such early maturation is likely to make it more difficult to predict and adapt to the onset of these adaptations when they occur earlier than your peers.

Female

 * Females have been shown to be more negatively impacted by physiological pubertal change leading to increased shyness, worrying, depressed mood and self-consciousness as they progress through the stages.
 * Peer and romantic relationships may also play a role in these negative emotional experiences, which females have been shown to be more sensitive to than males.
 * Adolescent girls experiencing early timing is correlated with higher rates of depressive disorders, substance disorders , eating disorders , and co-morbid depression and substance disorders.
 * Early maturation effects for girls demonstrate greater severity in contrast to boys, as indicated by numerous studies.

Male

 * Early maturation in boys is linked to increased internalizing and externalizing symptoms during early to mid adolescence.
 * Data from the Oregon Adolescent Depression Project (OADP) found that early maturation was associated with lower self-esteem and increased substance use.

Neurology
Recent developments in the field of neuroscience has discovered potential neurological-basis for the development of mood disorders specifically during pubertal changes. Although it is in its early stages and has no definitive findings yet.

Neuroimaging results have demonstrated the possibility of puberty related changes in the splenium of the corpus callosum representing a potential vulnerability for future onset of an affective or mood disorder for high-risk youth.

Puberty has been shown to have specific influences on the development of white matter in the brain during adolescence that potentially influences the connections between emotional-processing and emotion regulation areas of the brain, which would, therefore, affect their functioning.

Sleep
An emerging pattern of delayed bedtimes and early rise time during adolescence results in less sleep than both adolescents and experts deem necessary. Delayed sleep phase occurs as the result of biological delay in the circadian rhythm and during puberty, where a slow buildup of sleep pressure accumulates to delay sleep phase. Adolescents dealing with school and social obligations see their sleep schedule fail to line up with their circadian rhythms. This coupled with daytime impairment can potentially meet the diagnostic criteria for Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome (DSPS).

Hormonal
Some studies suggest that hormonal changes during puberty are more influential than physical changes in predicting certain mood and behavior patterns at adolescence. (Mood and Behavior at Adolescence: Evidence for Hormonal Factors*) In contrast, a large part of how impactful these hormones (estrogen and testosterone, specifically) are in behavior and mood has been found largely impacted by the social environment that adolescent inhabits. Although, women are still more negatively impacted by men due to findings that have greater sensitivities to these non-hormonal (especially social) factors in comparison to males. Overall, the study of these hormones may have some effect on mood but does not fully account for the manifestation of moods and behaviors, as further studies have shown.

Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome
Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome (DSPS) is diagnosed via three criteria on the DSM-V: misalignment of sleep, excessive sleepiness or insomnia, and significant daytime impairment in social, occupational, or other areas of functioning.

Insomnia
Insomnia is characterized by difficulties initiating and maintaining sleep prevalent in 14-24% in adolescent populations. The DSM-V rates insomnia as a sleep related functional impairment of DSPS.

Depression
The overlap between DSPS and depression and insomnia accounts for functional impairment. Elevated rates of depression are seen in adolescents receiving less sleep than regular sleepers.