Serotonergic Function, Behavioral Disinhibition, and Negative Affect in Children of Alcoholics: The Moderating Effects of Puberty.

Autor: Twitchell, Geoffrey R., Hanna, Gregory L., Cook, Edwin H., Fitzgerald, Hiram E., Zucker, Robert A.
Zdroj: Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research; 2000, Vol. 24 Issue 7, p972-979, 8p
Abstrakt: Background: Serotonergic (5-HT) dysfunction has been implicated in both behavioral disinhibition and negative affect in adults. Although our group's previous work found decreased whole blood 5-HT in high versus low behavior problem children of alcoholics, some child/adolescent studies report conflicting results, and 5-HTs role in negative affect has been largely unexamined. Age-related developmental factors may play a role in these relationships. Methods: This report is from an ongoing prospective study of the development of risk for alcohol abuse/dependence and other problematic outcomes in a sample of families subtyped by father's alcoholism classification. The present study extends previous work and examines relationships between whole blood 5-HT and both child behavioral disinhibition (an aggression index from the Child Behavior Checklist) and negative affect (Child Behavior Checklist Anxious/Depressed scale) in offspring from 47 families ( N= 45 boys and 17 girls; mean age = 10.88 ± 2.03 yr). Results: The most important finding was that puberty moderated relationships between 5-HT and both behavioral disinhibition and negative affect with a relationship for pubescent children ( n= 14, r= -0.54, p= 0.05; r= -0.57, p= 0.04, respectively) but no relationship for prepubescent children ( n= 48, r= 0.05, p= 0.75; r= -0.15, p= 0.31, respectively). Conclusions: The moderating effects of puberty may help clarify inconsistencies in child/adolescent literature. Furthermore, there appears to be a relationship between 5-HT and negative affect which parallels that between 5-HT and behavioral disinhibition. Pubertal status may be an important variable to evaluate as a moderator in relation to the developmental context of the role 5-HT dysfunction may play in various models of behavior related to alcoholism over the early life course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Databáze: Complementary Index
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