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

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. This study explores the dynamics of adolescent depression through the lens of network temperature, a novel concept in psychological symptom networks. Researchers observed a decrease in network temperature across adolescence, indicating increased stability and decreased variability of depressive symptoms as adolescents age and with distinct patterns between sexes. This work emphasizes the importance of understanding network dynamics over static measures, offering new insights into the stability and variability of depression symptoms.