Combined oral contraceptive (COC) use is associated with small, albeit significant, increases in mental symptom scores, predominantly irritability, depressed mood, and anxiety. Yet, randomized prospective trials are needed to better characterize the women at risk for COC-induced negative mood change. Thus, the primary aim of this sub-study to a placebo-controlled randomized trial was to determine whether COC use influences emotional interference by negative and positive stimuli. Secondly, we wanted to evaluate what factors would predict depressive symptoms at the end of the trial, taking personality factors, history of mental disorders and other demographic factors into account. Sixty-nine women were included, randomized to three cycles of treatment with a COC (1.5 mg estradiol and 2.5 mg nomegestrolacetate) or placebo. An emotional verbal Stroop task was used to measure interference of emotional stimuli, in which participants were asked to only name the color of a presented word, while ignoring the meaning of the word. Four different word categories were used; neutral, positive, depression, and anxiety. For the second aim of the study, rating on the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale during the final days of the trial was used as outcome. We found no interaction between emotional verbal Stroop word category and treatment, indicating that COC treatment did not evoke any differences in emotional interference to the three word categories. Significant predictors for depressive symptoms at the end of the trial were trait anxiety at baseline and prior adverse mood effects by hormonal contraceptive use. Treatment (i.e. whether women had been treated with the COC or placebo) did not play a role in predicting depression scores at the end of the trial. In conclusion, we found no evidence that combined oral contraceptive use is associated with impaired cognitive-emotional processing. Instead, the main predictors of self-rated depression at the end of the trial were baseline trait anxiety and previous mental symptoms during hormonal contraceptive use.

中文翻译：

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使用基于雌二醇的复方口服避孕药对健康女性的注意力偏向或抑郁症状没有影响

联合口服避孕药 (COC) 的使用与精神症状评分（主要是易怒、情绪低落和焦虑）的小幅（尽管显着）增加有关。然而，需要随机前瞻性试验来更好地描述有 COC 引起的负面情绪变化风险的女性。因此，这项针对安慰剂对照随机试验的子研究的主要目的是确定 COC 的使用是否会通过负面和正面刺激影响情绪干扰。其次，我们想评估哪些因素会在试验结束时预测抑郁症状，将人格因素、精神障碍病史和其他人口因素考虑在内。纳入 69 名女性，随机接受 COC（1.5 mg 雌二醇和 2.5 mg nomegestrolacetate）或安慰剂治疗的三个周期。使用情绪语言 Stroop 任务来测量情绪刺激的干扰，其中要求参与者仅说出所呈现单词的颜色，而忽略单词的含义。使用了四种不同的词类；中性、积极、抑郁和焦虑。对于该研究的第二个目标，在试验的最后几天使用蒙哥马利-埃斯伯格抑郁量表评分作为结果。我们发现情绪语言 Stroop 词类别与治疗之间没有相互作用，表明 COC 治疗没有引起对三个词类别的情绪干扰的任何差异。试验结束时抑郁症状的显着预测因素是基线时的特质焦虑和激素避孕药的先前不良情绪影响。治疗（即 女性是否接受过 COC 或安慰剂治疗）在试验结束时对预测抑郁评分没有影响。总之，我们没有发现联合口服避孕药与认知情绪加工受损有关的证据。相反，试验结束时自评抑郁症的主要预测因素是基线特质焦虑和激素避孕药使用期间的先前精神症状。