Supraphysiological testosterone levels from anabolic steroid use and reduced sensitivity to negative facial expressions in men.

Autor: Scarth M; Anabolic Androgenic Steroid Research Group, Section for Clinical Addiction Research, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, Postbox 4959, Nydalen, 0424, Oslo, Norway. morsca@ous-hf.no.; Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway. morsca@ous-hf.no., Hauger LE; Anabolic Androgenic Steroid Research Group, Section for Clinical Addiction Research, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, Postbox 4959, Nydalen, 0424, Oslo, Norway., Thorsby PM; Hormone laboratory, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biochemical endocrinology and metabolism research group, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.; Institute of Clinical Medicine and University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway., Leknes S; Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.; Department of Diagnostic Physics, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway., Hullstein IR; Norwegian Doping Control Laboratory, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway., Westlye LT; Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.; NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.; KG Jebsen Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway., Bjørnebekk A; Anabolic Androgenic Steroid Research Group, Section for Clinical Addiction Research, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, Postbox 4959, Nydalen, 0424, Oslo, Norway.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Psychopharmacology [Psychopharmacology (Berl)] 2024 Apr; Vol. 241 (4), pp. 701-715. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Nov 22.
DOI: 10.1007/s00213-023-06497-2
Abstrakt: Rationale: Anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) are used to improve physical performance and appearance, but have been associated with deficits in social cognitive functioning. Approximately 30% of people who use AAS develop a dependence, increasing the risk for undesired effects.
Objectives: To assess the relationship between AAS use (current/previous), AAS dependence, and the ability to recognize emotional facial expressions, and investigate the potential mediating role of hormone levels.
Methods: In total 156 male weightlifters, including those with current (n = 45) or previous (n = 34) AAS use and never-using controls (n = 77), completed a facial Emotion Recognition Task (ERT). Participants were presented with faces expressing one out of six emotions (sadness, happiness, fear, anger, disgust, and surprise) and were instructed to indicate which of the six emotions each face displayed. ERT accuracy and response time were recorded and evaluated for association with AAS use status, AAS dependence, and serum reproductive hormone levels. Mediation models were used to evaluate the mediating role of androgens in the relationship between AAS use and ERT performance.
Results: Compared to never-using controls, men currently using AAS exhibited lower recognition accuracy for facial emotional expressions, particularly anger (Cohen's d = -0.57, p FDR = 0.03) and disgust (d = -0.51, p FDR = 0.05). Those with AAS dependence (n = 47) demonstrated worse recognition of fear relative to men without dependence (d = 0.58, p = 0.03). Recognition of disgust was negatively correlated with serum free testosterone index (FTI); however, FTI did not significantly mediate the association between AAS use and recognition of disgust.
Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate impaired facial emotion recognition among men currently using AAS compared to controls. While further studies are needed to investigate potential mechanisms, our analysis did not support a simple mediation effect of serum FTI.
(© 2023. The Author(s).)
Databáze: MEDLINE
Externí odkaz:
Nepřihlášeným uživatelům se plný text nezobrazuje