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Age at menarche predicts age at onset of major affective and anxiety disorders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 March 2020

L. Tondo ,
M. Pinna ,
G. Serra ,
L. De Chiara  and
R.J. Baldessarini
L. Tondo*
Affiliation:
International Consortium for Psychotic & Mood Disorders Research, Mailman Research Center, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, USA Lucio Bini Mood Disorder Centers, Cagliari and Rome, Italy
M. Pinna
Affiliation:
Lucio Bini Mood Disorder Centers, Cagliari and Rome, Italy
G. Serra
Affiliation:
International Consortium for Psychotic & Mood Disorders Research, Mailman Research Center, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, USA NESMOS Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University (Sapienza) of Rome, Rome, Italy Child Neuropsychiatry Unit, Department of Neuroscience, IRCCS Children Hospital Bambino Gesù, Rome, Italy
L. De Chiara
Affiliation:
NESMOS Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University (Sapienza) of Rome, Rome, Italy
R.J. Baldessarini
Affiliation:
International Consortium for Psychotic & Mood Disorders Research, Mailman Research Center, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, USA Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
*
* Corresponding author. Mailman Research Center 3, McLean Hospital, 115, Mill Street, Belmont, MA 24768-9106, USA. Tel.: +1 617 855 3201. E-mail address:leonardot@aol.com (L. Tondo).
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Abstract

Background

Menarche age has been associated inconsistently with the occurrence, timing or severity of major depressive disorder (MDD), but rarely studied in women with bipolar (BDs) or anxiety disorders.

Methods

We investigated women patients at a Sardinian mood disorder center for associations of age at menarche with age at illness onset for major affective or anxiety disorders, year of birth, and other selected factors, using bivariate comparisons and multivariate regression modeling.

Results

Among women (n = 1139) with DSM-IV MDD (n = 557), BD-I (n = 223), BD-II (n = 178), or anxiety disorders (n = 181), born in 1904–1998, of mean age 42.9 years, menarche age averaged 12.8 [CI: 12.7–12.9] years. Illness onset age averaged 30.9 [30.1–31.8] years, ranking: BD-I, 25.8; anxiety disorders, 28.0; BD-II, 30.3; MDD, 34.1 years. Menarche age declined secularly over birth years, and was associated with younger illness-onset, having no or fewer siblings, more psychiatrically ill first-degree relatives, living in rural environments, being suicidal, substance abuse, and being unemployed. Earlier menarche and earlier illness-onset were significantly associated for onset age groups of ≤ 20, 20–39, and > 40 years. Menarche age versus diagnosis ranked: BD-II < BD-I < anxiety disorders < MDD.

Conclusions

Age at menarche in Sardinia, as elsewhere, has declined over the past decades. It was strongly associated with age at onset of bipolar and anxiety, as well as major depressive disorders across the age range, suggesting sustained effects of biological maturational factors.

Keywords

AnxietyBipolar disordersMajor depressionMenarcheOnset age
Type
Original article
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 39 , January 2017 , pp. 80 - 85
Copyright
Copyright © Elsevier Masson SAS 2017

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