A new study suggests that increased testosterone levels during early adolescence may play an important role in the emotional development of adolescent women, predicting an increased risk of symptoms of anxiety and depression. Research published in journals psychoneuroendocrinologyprovides evidence that these hormonal changes influence emotional well-being before the physical signs of puberty appear. These findings highlight a specific age group in which young adolescents benefit most from positive emotional support.
The transition to adolescence often brings a surge of emotional difficulties, especially for young women. Mental health professionals frequently observe an increase in internalizing symptoms during this period of rapid development. Internalizing symptoms refer to emotional conflicts that a person turns internally, such as anxiety, sadness, loneliness, and depression.
To understand why this vulnerability occurs, experts often focus on the complex biological and social changes that define adolescence. Historically, the scientific consensus suspected that estrogen, especially estradiol, was the main driver of mood changes in young women. Estradiol is a type of estrogen that plays an important role in women’s reproductive health and physical maturation.
Other theories suggest that the social challenge of being seen as physically older than one’s peers causes psychological distress. This idea is known as the maturity gap hypothesis. This study proposes that early visible physical changes create social pressures that young people are not yet emotionally equipped to deal with.
Another perspective is the hormonal influence hypothesis. This proposes that, regardless of outward physical changes, the release of hormones directly influences brain development and how emotions are processed. Building on this idea, the current research team wanted to isolate the effects of androgenic hormones such as testosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone. Dehydroepiandrosterone is a natural hormone that acts as a precursor to testosterone and helps initiate the early changes of puberty.
A research team from the University of Georgia and Augusta University assembled a study to see if these particular hormones represent unique biological pathways to psychological distress. They aimed to determine whether increased testosterone could predict symptoms of anxiety and depression, even when taking into account estrogen levels and observable physical maturation.
To track these developmental changes, the authors analyzed data from 5,476 female participants. These people were participants in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study, a large, ongoing project tracking the health of children in the United States. The scientists followed the participants, who were between the ages of 9 and 13, over four annual assessments.
The researchers took morning saliva samples from the young people each year and measured hormone levels. Laboratory tests measured specific concentrations of dehydroepiandrosterone, testosterone, and estradiol in each sample. The team also collected information about the participants’ physical adolescent development. Caregivers filled out standardized questionnaires detailing the children’s visible physical changes, such as growth spurts and menarche (the medical term for menarche).
To measure emotional well-being, adolescents completed a self-report survey between ages 10 and 11. These studies asked adolescents to rate their own internalizing symptoms, such as how often they felt worried, sad, or anxious. By combining biological data and research findings, scientists built complex statistical models to see how hormonal changes over time relate to the development of psychological distress.
Statistical models have allowed scientists to examine how changes in one biological marker predict changes in other factors in the future. This analysis revealed different developmental patterns of various hormones as young people age. Dehydroepiandrosterone levels showed a nonlinear growth trajectory with a gradual increase, increasing rapidly as the children grew older. Testosterone followed a different pattern, showing a moderate and steady increase throughout early adolescence.
When examining associations with mental health, researchers found that increased testosterone predicted increased internalizing symptoms, especially between the ages of 10 and 12. Women who had greater increases in testosterone were more likely to report depression and anxiety. This association held true even when the statistical model adjusted for participants’ estradiol levels and visible physical maturation.
To explain this link between testosterone and mood, the authors point to changes in brain circuitry. When testosterone levels increase, this hormone interacts with developing brain regions like the amygdala, which play a key role in processing threats and emotions. This biological change tends to make young women more sensitive to social evaluation and environmental stressors, explaining their increased introverted emotional conflict.
Interestingly, this study found that physical maturation does not negatively impact psychological distress as much as hormonal changes. At one point during the study, around ages 11 to 12, higher rates of visible physical development actually predicted lower internalizing symptoms. This suggests that physical maturation may provide social benefits that buffer anxiety and depression at certain developmental stages.
Estradiol also played a role in participants’ emotional landscape, but its effects appeared a little later in development. Estradiol levels were associated with internalizing symptoms in older age groups, particularly between 11 and 13 years of age. The presence of estradiol does not explain the association between testosterone and psychological distress in young people, implying that the two hormones act on different timelines.
This study is subject to several limitations that need to be considered. The researchers collected hormone data only once a year. This means that the study was unable to capture natural daily or monthly fluctuations in hormone concentrations. A single annual snapshot provides only a limited view of a person’s overall endocrine activity and can miss short-term dynamics.
Reliance on parental reports of physical development also imposes limitations on research design. Adolescents’ own perceptions of their physical changes may have a stronger relationship to their psychological vulnerability than what their parents observe. Furthermore, the scientists focused only on internalizing symptoms and did not measure externalizing behaviors such as acting out or aggressive behavior, which may also be related to changes in testosterone.
Because this sample included only females, the findings may not apply to male adolescent development. Testosterone increases more rapidly in men, which can result in entirely different neurological and behavioral effects. Future studies should investigate similar models in men to determine whether these hormonal pathways act differently depending on biological sex.
Future studies would also benefit from more frequent sampling of hormones to capture rapid biological changes. Scientists may also be able to look directly at brain images to see exactly how these hormones change the neural circuits involved in processing stress. Understanding the exact biological mechanisms at work could help researchers create better mental health resources for adolescents.
These findings provide useful clinical context for mental health professionals and parents. Ages 10 to 12 appear to represent a particular sensitivity zone in which young women are highly sensitive to social feedback and stress. The researchers note that this does not suggest that doctors should start regularly testing girls’ hormone levels, as early symptoms often represent expected developmental problems rather than clinical disorders.
Instead, this information provides a useful schedule for early intervention. If parents and schools are aware that invisible biological changes occur between the ages of 10 and 12 that increase emotional sensitivity, basic emotional regulation and coping skills can be introduced early. Recognizing this biological change may help families provide positive emotional support before clinical mental health disorders develop.
The study, “Hormone, Pubertal Development, and its Association with Emotional Symptom Risk in Adolescent Women,” was authored by Avary I. Evans, Steven M. Kogan, Kalsea J. Koss, Ellen M. House, Charles F. Geier, and Assaf Oshri.
