Menstrual Cycle–Related Mood and EEG Activity: Investigating the Role of Social Sensitivity in Adolescents and Young Adults

A sex difference in depression emerges at puberty, with females two to three times more likely to be diagnosed than males (SAMHSA, 2020). A differential response to the natural fluctuations in sex hormones across the menstrual cycle may underlie this sex difference, leaving females more mood sensitive to these hormone changes. Furthermore, adolescence and early adulthood offer a unique social environment with their shifting emphasis towards peer feedback, supporting the relevance of considering social media and other forms of social influence. The present analysis examines psychosocial stress in a group of 78 adolescents (ages 11-14; assigned female sex at birth) to better understand neurophysiological responses to peer feedback via electroencephalogram (EEG) collection during the luteal phase. Salivary cortisol was also collected during a social feedback computer task while EEG data was recorded. There was a main effect of EEG event type (F(3,228)=18.63, p < .001, pe2 = 0.2) and an event by group interaction (F(3,228)= 3.12, p = .027, pe2 = .04) such that participants with high anxious rejection sensitivity showed reduced frontal theta power for accept trials compared to those with low rejection sensitivity (p < .05). These results suggest that individuals with high rejection sensitivity may show blunted responses to positive feedback; thus, even though rejection sensitivity is often described in the context of hypersensitivity to negative feedback, it may also involve a hyposensitivity to positive feedback that should be further investigated. The second aim of this project followed 20 young adults (ages 18-25) across a five week period via daily surveys to capture an entire menstrual cycle. Data donation package (DDP) data containing user data from Instagram was retrospectively coded across this period to compare the positive and negative valence of the content that participants engaged with. These findings highlight the potential interactions of hormonal fluctuations, social sensitivity, and peer-related neural responses, providing insight into sex-specific risk factors for mood disturbances and the influence of social media during these key developmental periods.