Depressive symptomatology, temperament and oxytocin serum levels in a sample of healthy female university students.

Background: Depressive symptomatology is prevalent among female university students with adverse effects on their quality of life and academic performance. Previous research suggested associations between depressive symptomatology and oxytocin levels and between depressive symptomatology and Temperament Traits. Despite this evidence, to the best of our knowledge no research has studied the effects fboth oxytocin serum levels and temperament dimensions on depressivesymptoms in a healthy sample. The present study aimed to analyse the effect of oxytocin levels and temperament traits on depressive symptomatology in healthy female university students.

Methods: All participants completed the Beck Depression Inventory and the Adult Temperament Questionnaire. Blood samples were collected between 8 and 8H30 a.m. after 12 h of fasting and between 5 and 8 day of the menstrual cycle and serum oxytocin levels were quantified using a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. A hierarchical multiple regression model using a stepwise method was conducted to identify predictors of depression.

Results: Forty-five women aged between 18 and 25 years old (19.37 ± 1.32 years) volunteered to participate in this study. Depressive symptomatology was negatively associated with oxytocin serum levels and "Negative affect" and positively associated with "Effortful control" and "Activation Control". In the final regression model, only oxytocin level was a predictor (B = - 0.090, p < 0.0001), the model explaining 65.2% of the depression variation. Oxytocin played a mediation role between "Negative affects" and Depressive symptomatology.

Conclusions: Our results showed that oxytocin level, rather than personality dimensions, was associated with depressive symptomatology. These results highlight the relevance of the discussion on the use of oxytocin as a biological marker of emotional and social symptoms that characterize depression.