The role of cortisol and psychopathy in the cycle of violence.
BACKGROUND
Child abuse and neglect are universal risk factors for delinquency, violence, and aggression; this phenomenon is known as the cycle of violence. Additional factors-psychopathy, impulsiveness, and disruptions in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis-play a role in aggressive behavior but have rarely been examined in the same conceptual and experimental framework.


OBJECTIVE
We sought to examine the above-mentioned risk factors for aggression in a prospective study employing psychopharmacologic and psychometric techniques.


METHODS
Sixty-seven adult participants were given an acute dose of 20 mg cortisol in a placebo-controlled, within-subject, counter-balanced dosing design. Salivary cortisol was measured at baseline and at regular intervals across a 5 h testing period. Following dosing, state-aggressive behavior was measured by a laboratory task, the Point-Subtraction Aggression Paradigm. History of child abuse/neglect, psychopathy, impulsivity, and a trait measure of aggression were assessed through self-report questionnaires.


RESULTS
Using multiple regression, a model including abuse/neglect, psychopathy, impulsivity, and baseline cortisol explained 58 % of the variance in trait aggression and 26 % of the variance in state aggression. Abuse/neglect predicted diminished HPA-axis reactivity and HPA-axis reactivity showed a trend toward predicting state and trait aggression, although it was not a significant mediating variable between abuse/neglect and aggression.


CONCLUSIONS
The results indicate that child maltreatment, psychopathy and HPA-axis reactivity interact to provide a confluence over aggressive behavior, and intervention efforts need to consider all these factors.
Program in Neuroscience, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, TX, USA. jgowin@ucsd.edu
Joshua L
JL
Gowin
Charles E
CE
Green
Joseph L
JL
Alcorn
Alan C
AC
Swann
F Gerard
FG
Moeller
Scott D
SD
Lane
D000328:Adult; D054523:Adult Survivors of Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology*; D000374:Aggression / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D000987:Antisocial Personality Disorder / Q000523:psychology; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000378:metabolism*; D007030:Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D010913:Pituitary-Adrenal System / Q000378:metabolism; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011594:Psychometrics; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014754:Violence / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult
D006854:Hydrocortisone