Serotonin, aggression, and parental psychopathology in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder

J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 1997 Oct;36(10):1391-8. doi: 10.1097/00004583-199710000-00021.

Abstract

Objective: To explore the relationship between central serotonergic (5-HT) function and history of parental aggression in aggressive and nonaggressive boys with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Method: History of psychiatric symptoms was assessed in the biological parents of 41 boys with ADHD. The relationship between 5-HT function in aggressive and nonaggressive probands, as assessed via the prolactin response to fenfluramine (FEN) challenge, and parental history of aggression was examined.

Results: Aggressive boys with a parental history of aggressive behavior had a significantly lower prolactin response to FEN challenge than aggressive boys without a parental history of aggression. Nonaggressive boys had a prolactin response midway between those of the two aggressive subgroups, and their prolactin response did not vary as a function of parental aggression. Children subdivided on the basis of parental history of other psychiatric symptoms did not differ in their response to the FEN challenge.

Conclusions: These data indicate an association between parent aggressive behavior and lower 5-HT function in aggressive boys with ADHD but do not indicate the extent to which this association is environmentally and/or genetically transmitted. There may be different neurochemical mechanisms in familial and nonfamilial aggressive children, which have clinical implications for pharmacological interventions.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aggression*
  • Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / blood*
  • Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / psychology*
  • Child
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Parents / psychology*
  • Prolactin / blood
  • Serotonin / blood*

Substances

  • Serotonin
  • Prolactin