Neuroendocrine response to fenfluramine challenge in boys. Associations with aggressive behavior and adverse rearing.

BACKGROUND: There is evidence of relationships among serotonin, aggressive behavior, and a childhood history of socially adverse-rearing conditions. This study examines the prolactin response to fenfluramine hydrochloride challenge in young boys who show clinically significant aggressive behavior or who are raised in a social environment that is conducive to the development of chronic aggression. METHODS: A series of 34 younger brothers of convicted delinquents underwent standardized psychiatric and observation-based assessments of their social-rearing environments that were conducted during home visits. Approximately 2 years later, these boys underwent a reassessment of psychiatric status and an assessment of central serotonergic activity using the fenfluramine challenge procedure. RESULTS: Increasing degrees of aggressive behavior at either assessment were positively correlated with the prolactin response to fenfluramine challenge. Furthermore, adverse-rearing circumstances that were conducive to the development of aggressive behavior also exhibited positive correlations with the prolactin response. This association between adverse rearing and the prolactin response was statistically independent of that between aggression and the prolactin response. CONCLUSION: In young boys, aggressive behavior and social circumstances that are conducive to the development of aggressive behavior are positively correlated with a marker of central serotonergic activity.

Neurological soft signs: one-year stability and relationship to psychiatric symptoms in boys.

OBJECTIVE: This study had two main objectives: (1) to examine the 1-year stability of neurological soft signs and (2) to examine the longitudinal relationship between soft signs and psychiatric symptoms in young boys. METHOD: A consecutive series of 56 boys from a high-risk sample received standardized psychiatric and soft sign assessments at study intake. Approximately 1 year later, 48 (86%) of these boys received a reassessment of their psychiatric and soft sign status. RESULTS: Soft signs exhibited marked stability across the 1-year period (intraclass correlation = .70, p < .001). Symptoms of both internalizing and externalizing disorders correlated with poor performance on the soft sign examination. For both internalizing and externalizing symptoms, the association with soft signs occurred primarily among individuals with persistently high scores on symptom scales across the two assessments. CONCLUSIONS: Performance on a standardized neurological soft sign examination is stable over a 1-year period. Soft signs measured with this examination relate to both internalizing and externalizing symptoms in young boys, particularly when symptoms are relatively stable over time. Further research should consider the clinical significance of childhood soft signs.

Cardiac profile and disruptive behavior in boys at risk for delinquency.

The objective of this study was to examine associations in youth between antisocial behavior and cardiovascular profile. Younger brothers of adjudicated delinquents (N = 120) received a standardized psychiatric assessment and an assessment of three factors often studied in behavioral cardiology research: family history of hypertension, resting blood pressure, and obesity. As a group, relative to population norms, these youth exhibited signs of obesity and elevated blood pressure, with 30% of the sample appearing clinically obese and 24% having a blood pressure above the 90th percentile for national norms in their age cohort. Within the sample, score on the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) Delinquency scale correlated with blood pressure (r = .29-.34) and an index of obesity, weight/height3 (r = .20). Further, scores on the CBCL Delinquency, Aggression, and Externalizing scales were elevated in boys with a positive family history of hypertension. Among boys at risk for delinquency, disruptive psychopathology relates to factors often studied in behavioral cardiology research. Relationships between risk factors for ischemic cardiovascular disease and hostile behavior may be manifested with measures of disruptive psychopathology.