Department of Psychology, Florida State University, 1107 West Call Street, Tallahassee, FL, 32306; University of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA.
Dev Psychobiol. 2014 Apr;56(3):448-58. doi: 10.1002/dev.21111. Epub 2013 Jul 12.
Conduct disorder (CD) is a heterogeneous diagnosis, leading researchers to initiate studies focused on neurobiological mechanisms underlying this disorder. One specifier of CD currently considered for inclusion in the DSM-V is callous-unemotional (CU) traits, a key component of psychopathy. CU traits are thought to have neuroendocrine underpinnings, yet little is known about hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) and -gonadal (HPG) hormones in the context of psychopathic traits. The current study sought to identify daily coupling patterns between HPA and HPG hormones in order to clarify distinct neurobiological underpinning associated with psychopathic/CU traits. Fifty incarcerated adolescent males who met criteria for CD were recruited and provided 10 saliva samples across 2 days. Participants completed the Psychopathy Checklist Youth Version (PCL:YV) and Inventory of Callous Unemotional Traits (ICU) on a third day. Diurnal cortisol, testosterone, and DHEA functioning was modeled via hierarchical linear modeling. Psychopathy subscales from the measures administered were used as predictors of daily coupling patterns between these hormones. Results indicated all three hormones were tightly coupled. Further, higher PCL-YV interpersonal scores related to greater coupling between all three hormones, whereas higher ICU callousness scores related to greater uncoupling of testosterone with cortisol and DHEA. The current study is novel in its emphasis on testing the coupling of HPA and HPG hormones among incarcerated adolescent males. Results suggest that affective and interpersonal psychopathic traits are marked by unique HPA- and HPG coupling.
品行障碍 (CD) 是一种异质诊断，促使研究人员开始研究该障碍的神经生物学机制。目前，被认为是 DSM-V 纳入标准之一的 CD 特定症状是无情无义 (CU) 特征，这是精神变态的一个关键组成部分。CU 特征被认为具有神经内分泌基础，但对于精神变态特征背景下的下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺 (HPA) 和 -性腺 (HPG) 激素知之甚少。目前的研究旨在确定 HPA 和 HPG 激素之间的日常耦合模式，以阐明与精神变态/CU 特征相关的独特神经生物学基础。招募了 50 名符合 CD 标准的监禁中的青少年男性，并在两天内提供了 10 个唾液样本。参与者在第三天完成了青少年版心理变态检查表 (PCL:YV) 和无情无义特征量表 (ICU)。通过分层线性建模对昼夜皮质醇、睾丸激素和 DHEA 功能进行建模。从所使用的测量中得到的精神变态子量表被用作这些激素之间日常耦合模式的预测因子。结果表明，所有三种激素都紧密耦合。此外，较高的 PCL-YV 人际得分与所有三种激素之间的耦合程度增加有关，而较高的 ICU 无情得分与睾丸激素与皮质醇和 DHEA 的解耦程度增加有关。本研究的新颖之处在于强调测试被监禁的青少年男性中 HPA 和 HPG 激素的耦合。结果表明，情感和人际精神变态特征以独特的 HPA 和 HPG 耦合为特征。
