Depression, anxiety and self-esteem in adolescent girls with polycystic ovary syndrome

Objectives: Objective of the study was to evaluate the depression, anxiety and perceived stress level in adolescent girls with diagnosed polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), as well as to assess their body and self-esteem and its impact on emotional status. Material and methods: In 27 adolescent girls with confirmed diagnosis of PCOS (study group) as well as 27 healthy, regularly menstruating, age and BMI matched girls (control group) Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Perceived Stress Scale-10 (PSS-10), Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) and Body-Esteem Scale (BES) containing three subscales (sexual attractiveness, weight concern, physical condition) were performed. Results: There were no significant differences between PCOS group and control group in depression and PSS-10 scores, but the anxiety score was significantly higher in control than in PCOS group (9.6 ± 3.0 vs 7.3 ± 3.9, p = 0.02). Moreover, in BES subscales’ scores there were no significant differences between the groups, whereas RSES score was significantly higher in PCOS group (25.0 ± 7.1 vs 28.3 ± 4.6, p = 0.04). In PCOS group anxiety score was related to PSS-10 score (r = 0.56, p = 0.005). Moreover, we found that obesity was negatively related to anxiety (rƴ = –0.4, p = 0.04), depression (rƴ = –0.48, p = 0.02), PSS-10 (rƴ = –0.59, p = 0.004) and physical condition scores (rƴ = –0.44, p = 0.04). In girls with PCOS the more severe depression the worse weight control (rƴ = –0.56, p = 0.04). Conclusions: We conclude that in adolescent girls PCOS is not related to anxiety and depressive symptoms as well as poor self-esteem.