Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41489631›Full record

ArticleEuropean child & adolescent psychiatry2026

Children and adolescents with psychiatric disorders have high relative leptin levels upon adjustment for sex, BMI, and pubertal status.

Nicola Albers, Jochen Antel, Manuel Föcker, Lars Libuda, Judith Bühlmeier, Raphael Hirtz, Jochen Seitz, Anke Hinney, Johannes Hebebrand, Triinu Peters

Abstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in European child & adolescent psychiatry, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Nicola AlbersDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, LVR-University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg- Essen, Wickenburgstraße 21, Essen, 45147, Germany. nicola.albers@lvr.de.
Jochen AntelDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, LVR-University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg- Essen, Wickenburgstraße 21, Essen, 45147, Germany.
Manuel FöckerDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.
Lars LibudaInstitute of Nutrition, Consumption and Health, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Paderborn University, Paderborn, Germany.
Judith BühlmeierDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, LVR-University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg- Essen, Wickenburgstraße 21, Essen, 45147, Germany.
Raphael HirtzDepartment of Pediatrics, Division of Rare Diseases and CeSER, St. Josef- Hospital, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany.
Jochen SeitzDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, LVR-University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg- Essen, Wickenburgstraße 21, Essen, 45147, Germany.
Anke HinneySection of Molecular Genetics in Mental Disorders, University Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany.
Johannes HebebrandDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, LVR-University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg- Essen, Wickenburgstraße 21, Essen, 45147, Germany.
Triinu PetersSection of Molecular Genetics in Mental Disorders, University Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The relationship between leptin levels and psychiatric disorders has been studied more extensively in adults than in children and adolescents. However, the results are conflicting. We investigated serum leptin levels in children and adolescents (11 to 18.9 years) with psychiatric disorders (n = 363). Absolute and relative (body-mass-index (BMI)-, sex- and pubertal-stage-adjusted z-scores using reference values of healthy children and adolescents) leptin levels of different patient groups according to diagnosis were compared. The association between leptin levels and depression (Beck Depression Inventory-II) and anxiety (Child Behavior Checklist and Youth Self Report) was examined using regression analysis. Leptin z-scores were higher in patients with psychiatric disorders than in healthy controls (median 1.50, p < .001). While global tests suggested differences in leptin z-scores between patients with different psychiatric disorders, these differences could not be attributed to diagnosis groups in post-hoc pairwise comparisons. Absolute leptin levels differed between psychiatric disorders (p < .001). Patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) had the lowest levels, and patients with mood disorders had higher leptin levels than patients with mental disorders other than mood disorders, anxiety or AN. Neither absolute nor relative leptin levels were related to depressive or anxiety symptoms in regression models adjusted for sex and BMI. Significantly elevated BMI-, sex- and puberty-stage-adjusted leptin levels were observed in children and adolescents with psychiatric disorders compared to a reference sample. Further controlled studies are needed to confirm and explain this finding. No relationship was found between absolute or relative leptin levels and symptoms of depression or anxiety.

Indexed as

LeptinMental DisordersPubertyAdolescentAnorexia NervosaAnxietyAnxiety DisordersBody Mass IndexChildDepressionFemaleHumansMalePsychiatric Status Rating ScalesSex FactorsLeptinAnxietyChildren and adolescentsDepressionLeptin levelsLeptin reference valuesPsychiatric disorders

Identifiers

PMID41489631
PMCPMC13272241

What Socratic holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.