A novel method for quantifying affective sensitivity to endogenous ovarian hormones

Increased sensitivity to ovarian hormone changes is implicated in the etiology of reproductive mood disorders across the female lifespan, including menstrually-related mood disorders, perinatal mood disorders, and perimenopausal depression. Developing a method to accurately quantify sensitivity to e...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychoneuroendocrinology 2024-09, Vol.167, p.107095, Article 107095
Main Authors: Andersen, Elizabeth H., Nagpal, Anisha, Eisenlohr-Moul, Tory A., Gordon, Jennifer L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Affect - physiology
Estradiol
Estradiol - metabolism
Female
Humans
Menopause transition
Methods
Middle Aged
Mood Disorders - metabolism
Ovarian hormones
Ovary - metabolism
Ovary - physiology
Perimenopause - metabolism
Perimenopause - physiology
Perimenopause - psychology
Progesterone
Progesterone - metabolism
Reproductive mood disorders
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Summary:Increased sensitivity to ovarian hormone changes is implicated in the etiology of reproductive mood disorders across the female lifespan, including menstrually-related mood disorders, perinatal mood disorders, and perimenopausal depression. Developing a method to accurately quantify sensitivity to endogenous hormone fluctuations may therefore facilitate the prediction and prevention of these mental health conditions. Here, we propose one such method applying a synchrony analysis to compute time-lagged cross-correlations between repeated assessments of endogenous hormone levels and self-reported affect. We apply this method to a dataset containing frequent repeated assessments of affective symptoms and the urinary metabolites of estradiol (E2) and progesterone (P4) in 94 perimenopausal females. These preliminary findings suggest that, with further refinement and validation, the proposed method holds promise as a diagnostic tool to be used in clinical practice and to advance research investigating the etiology of reproductive mood disorders. •We developed a method to quantify one’s affective sensitivity to endogenous fluctuations in estradiol and progesterone.•This method applies time-lagged cross-correlations between repeated endogenous hormone levels and self-reported affect.•This resulting sensitivity coefficient predicted depressive mood in a sample of perimenopausal individuals.
ISSN:0306-4530
1873-3360
1873-3360
DOI:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2024.107095