IDSD2026 Poster Abstracts Poster Abstracts (93 abstracts)
Prenatal androgen exposure and its relation to affective behavior and psychological traits in females with congenital adrenal hyperplasia
Viviana Verde 1 , Paula Grunwald 2 , Finya Grubel 1 , Martin Göttlich 1 , Lea Tschaidse 2 , Marceli Chojnacki 2 , Sarah Ilmberger 2 , Nicole Reisch 2 & Ulrike M. Krämer 1
1Institut für Medizinische Psychologie, Center of Brain, Behavior and Metabolism (CBBM), Universität zu Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany; 2Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik IV, LMU Klinikum München, München, Germany. Correspondence to: [email protected]
Background: Steroid hormones play an important role in shaping behavioral and emotional development. Individuals with Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH) experience elevated prenatal and/or postnatal androgen exposure, providing a valuable clinical model to examine how prenatal hormonal variations relate to affective behavior and vulnerability to emotional symptoms. This ongoing study investigates the impact of prenatal androgen exposure on affective behavior, as it has been implicated in psychiatric conditions, for which individuals with CAH show an increased predisposition, and it further examines related psychological characteristics in females with classic and non-classic CAH compared with typically developed controls.
Methods: Participants complete the Approach–Avoidance Task (AAT) and the Monetary Incentive Delay (MID) task during functional MRI. Standardized questionnaires assess reward and punishment sensitivity, personality traits, anxiety, chronic stress, and depressive symptoms, while saliva and blood samples measure hormone concentrations. Behavioral data are analyzed using mixed-effects models, and questionnaire results are compared between groups and associated with behavioral and neural outcomes.
Results: Data acquisition is ongoing. Preliminary results will report group differences in self-reported affective traits and behavioral tendencies, as well as associations between questionnaire measures and behavioral outcomes. We hypothesize that females with classic CAH will exhibit reduced threat avoidance and increased reward sensitivity relative to controls, along with psychological profiles characterized by higher reward responsiveness, altered punishment sensitivity, and elevated levels of anxiety, depressive symptoms, and perceived stress. Females with non-classic CAH are expected to show intermediate patterns.
Conclusion: This study aims to provide a comprehensive clinical and behavioral characterization of affective behavior in females with CAH. Findings may clarify how prenatal androgen exposure and current hormonal status contribute to affective tendencies and psychological vulnerability, offering insights relevant to clinical care in this population.
Volume 118
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Endocrine Abstracts
ISSN 1470-3947 (print) | ISSN 1479-6848 (online)
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