The association between pubertal timing and diurnal cortisol activity in middle adolescence

The pubertal development stage is associated with mental health. One explanation is that the pubertal stage is linked to changes in hypothalamic‒pituitary‒adrenal (HPA) axis activity. However, no study has investigated the prospective association between pubertal timing and HPA axis activity, measured by cortisol, in middle adolescence. Using data from 914 individuals (54.70% female) from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), the current study sought to determine whether pubertal timing across the ages of 8-15.5 years (measured by menarche for girls and voice breaking for boys) was associated with diurnal cortisol slope, the cortisol awakening response, total morning cortisol, and total daily cortisol output at the age of 15.5 years. In girls, earlier menarche was associated with higher (logged) cortisol awakening response (b = -.003; 95% CI = -.007, -.0004), but the association was significant only after adjustment for confounders, especially ethnicity. No associations were observed in boys.