Network temperature as a metric of stability in depression symptoms across adolescence

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Grimes, Poppy and Murray, Aja and Smith, Keith Malcolm and Allegrini, Andrea and Piazza, Giulia and Larsson, Henrik and Epskamp, Sacha and Whalley, Heather C. and Kwong, Alex (2025) Network temperature as a metric of stability in depression symptoms across adolescence. Nature Mental Health. ISSN 2731-6076 (https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-025-00415-5)

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Abstract

Depression is characterized by diverse symptom combinations that can be represented as dynamic networks. While previous research has focused on central symptoms for targeted interventions, less attention has been given to whole-network properties. Here we show that ‘network temperature’, a novel measure of psychological network stability, captures symptom alignment across adolescence—a critical period for depression onset. Network temperature reflects system stability, with higher values indicating less symptom alignment and greater variability. In three large longitudinal adolescent cohorts (total N = 35,901), we found that network temperature decreases across adolescence, with the steepest decline during early adolescence, particularly in males. This suggests that depression symptom networks stabilize throughout development via increased symptom alignment, potentially explaining why adolescence is a crucial period for depression onset. These findings highlight early adolescence as a key intervention window and underscore the importance of sex-specific and personalized interventions.

ORCID iDs

Grimes, Poppy, Murray, Aja, Smith, Keith Malcolm ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4615-9020, Allegrini, Andrea, Piazza, Giulia, Larsson, Henrik, Epskamp, Sacha, Whalley, Heather C. and Kwong, Alex;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)