title: Relationship between Impulsivity and Serum Oxytocin in Male Children and Adolescents with Attention-Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder: A Preliminary Study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Here we aimed to determine the relationship between oxytocin levels and impulsivity, which is an important aspect at Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) clinics.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study population comprised 40 ADHD patients diagnosed based on the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children-Present and Lifetime version, without other psychiatric disorders and chronic diseases aged between 8 and 15 years. The control group comprised 40 healthy, age-matched, male children and adolescents who voluntarily participated in the study. Patients and controls filled the Barratt impulsivity scale-11 (BIS-11). Ten cubic centimeters of blood was collected at 8 am for determining serum oxytocin levels. ELISA kits were used to measure serum oxytocin levels in a biochemistry laboratory. The obtained data were evaluated using appropriate statistical methods.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In this study, compared with the control group, the impulsivity scores were significantly higher and serum oxytocin levels were lower in the ADHD group (52.5±18.1 and 37.62±9.0, respectively, p<0.001). Serum oxytocin levels showed a negative correlation with impulsivity and attention subscale scores of BIS-11 in the ADHD group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  ADHD and impulsivity, which comprise an aspect of ADHD, may be associated with oxytocin. Serum oxytocin levels may contribute to inattention subtypes of impulsivity observed in ADHD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Erciyes University School of Medicine, Kayseri Turkey.
authors.forename: Esra
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Demirci
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Erciyes University School of Medicine, Kayseri Turkey.
authors.forename: Sevgi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Özmen
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Erciyes University School of Medicine, Kayseri Turkey.
authors.forename: Didem Behice
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Öztop
keywords: ADHD; impulsivity; oxytocin