TY - JOUR
T1 - Are pro-inflammatory markers associated with psychological distress in a cross-sectional study of healthy adolescents 15–17 years of age? The Fit Futures study
AU - Linkas, Jonas
AU - Ahmed, Luai Awad
AU - Csifcsak, Gabor
AU - Emaus, Nina
AU - Furberg, Anne Sofie
AU - Grimnes, Guri
AU - Pettersen, Gunn
AU - Rognmo, Kamilla
AU - Christoffersen, Tore
N1 - Funding Information:
Open Access funding provided by UiT The Arctic University of Norway The research project is financed through Department of Health and Care Sciences, UiT Arctic University of Norway.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).
PY - 2022/12
Y1 - 2022/12
N2 - Background: Inflammatory markers have been associated with depression and anxiety disorder in adolescents. Less is known about the association between inflammation and subclinical symptoms in the form of psychological distress. We investigated prevalence of psychological distress and examined the associations between common pro-inflammatory markers and psychological distress in an adolescent population sample. Methods: The study was based on data from 458 girls and 473 boys aged 15–17 years from the Fit Futures Study, a large-scale study on adolescent health, conducted in Northern Norway. Psychological distress was measured with the Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL-10). Serum-levels of the following low-grade inflammatory markers were measured: C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin 6 (IL-6), transforming growth factor-alpha (TGF-α), tumor necrosis factor alpha variant 1 (TRANCE) and tumor necrosis factor alpha variant 2 (TWEAK). Associations between quartiles of inflammatory markers and HSCL-10 were examined by logistic regression and adjusted for potential confounders in sex-stratified analyses. Results: The proportion of psychological distress above cutoff were 26.9% and 10.8% among girls and boys, respectively. In both girls and boys, crude analysis showed positive associations between all inflammatory markers and HSCL-10, except for TWEAK and TRANCE in boys. However, none of these associations were statistically significant. Further, there were no significant findings in the adjusted analyses. Conclusion: There was a higher prevalence of psychological distress in girls compared to boys. Pro-inflammatory markers were not significantly associated with psychological distress in data from healthy adolescents aged 15–17 years.
AB - Background: Inflammatory markers have been associated with depression and anxiety disorder in adolescents. Less is known about the association between inflammation and subclinical symptoms in the form of psychological distress. We investigated prevalence of psychological distress and examined the associations between common pro-inflammatory markers and psychological distress in an adolescent population sample. Methods: The study was based on data from 458 girls and 473 boys aged 15–17 years from the Fit Futures Study, a large-scale study on adolescent health, conducted in Northern Norway. Psychological distress was measured with the Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL-10). Serum-levels of the following low-grade inflammatory markers were measured: C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin 6 (IL-6), transforming growth factor-alpha (TGF-α), tumor necrosis factor alpha variant 1 (TRANCE) and tumor necrosis factor alpha variant 2 (TWEAK). Associations between quartiles of inflammatory markers and HSCL-10 were examined by logistic regression and adjusted for potential confounders in sex-stratified analyses. Results: The proportion of psychological distress above cutoff were 26.9% and 10.8% among girls and boys, respectively. In both girls and boys, crude analysis showed positive associations between all inflammatory markers and HSCL-10, except for TWEAK and TRANCE in boys. However, none of these associations were statistically significant. Further, there were no significant findings in the adjusted analyses. Conclusion: There was a higher prevalence of psychological distress in girls compared to boys. Pro-inflammatory markers were not significantly associated with psychological distress in data from healthy adolescents aged 15–17 years.
KW - Adolescence
KW - Anxiety symptoms
KW - Depressive symptoms
KW - Inflammatory markers
KW - Psychological distress
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85126682702&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85126682702&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1186/s40359-022-00779-8
DO - 10.1186/s40359-022-00779-8
M3 - Article
C2 - 35292108
AN - SCOPUS:85126682702
SN - 2050-7283
VL - 10
JO - BMC psychology
JF - BMC psychology
IS - 1
M1 - 65
ER -