RESUMEN
There is increasing interest in the use of omega-3 supplements to reduce aggressive behavior. This meta-analysis summarizes findings from 28 RCTs (randomized controlled trials) on omega-3 supplementation to reduce aggression, yielding 35 independent samples with a total of 3,918 participants. Three analyses were conducted where the unit of analysis was independent samples, independent studies, and independent laboratories. Significant effect sizes were observed for all three analyses (g = .16, .20, .28 respectively), averaging .22, in the direction of omega-3 supplementation reducing aggression. There was no evidence of publication bias, and sensitivity analyses confirmed findings. Moderator analyses were largely non-significant, indicating that beneficial effects are obtained across age, gender, recruitment sample, diagnoses, treatment duration, and dosage. Omega-3 also reduced both reactive and proactive forms of aggression, particularly with respect to self-reports (g = .27 and .20 respectively). It is concluded that there is now sufficient evidence to begin to implement omega-3 supplementation to reduce aggression in children and adults - irrespective of whether the setting is the community, the clinic, or the criminal justice system.
RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Cardiac vagal tone is an indicator of parasympathetic nervous system functioning, and there is increasing interest in its relation to antisocial behavior. It is unclear however whether antisocial individuals are characterized by increased or decreased vagal tone, and whether increased vagal tone is the source of the low heart rate frequently reported in antisocial populations. METHODS: Participants consisted of four groups of community-dwelling adolescent boys aged 15.7 years: (1) controls, (2) childhood-only antisocial, (3) adolescent-only antisocial, and (4) persistently antisocial. Heart rate and vagal tone were assessed in three different conditions: rest, cognitive stressor, and social stressor. RESULTS: All three antisocial groups had both lower resting heart rates and increased vagal tone compared to the low antisocial controls across all three conditions. Low heart rate partially mediated the relationship between vagal tone and antisocial behavior. CONCLUSIONS: Results indicate that increased vagal tone and reduced heart rate are relatively broad risk factors for different developmental forms of antisocial behavior. Findings are the first to implicate vagal tone as an explanatory factor in understanding heart rate - antisocial behavior relationships. Future experimental work using non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation or heart rate variability biofeedback is needed to more systematically evaluate this conclusion.