Dopamine-beta-hydroxylase in behaviorally disturbed youth. Relationship between teacher and parent ratings

Exploring possible association between DβH genotype (C1021T), early onset of conduct disorder and psychopathic traits in juvenile delinquents

Early onset of conduct disorder (CD) with callous-unemotional traits has been linked to low levels of dopamine β-hydroxylase (DβH), an enzyme involved in dopamine turnover. The C1021T polymorphism in the DβH gene is a major quantitative-trait locus, regulating the level of DβH. In this study of juvenile delinquents from Northern Russia (n = 180), the polymorphism at -1021 was associated neither with early-onset CD nor with psychopathic traits. Association was found between psychopathic traits and early-onset CD, ADHD and mania.

A cohort-sequential multivariate latent growth curve analysis of normative CBCL aggressive and delinquent problem behavior: Associations with harsh discipline and gender

The aim of this study was to examine the normative developmental trajectories of aggressive and delinquent behavior in young children. Cohort-sequential univariate latent growth modeling (LGM) analyses were employed to conceptualize and analyze intraindividual changes in children's aggressive and delinquent behavior and interindividual differences in these changes. A multivariate model was tested that related the two developmental trajectories to each other and to harsh discipline. The longitudinal data included mother and father ratings on the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) (Achenbach, 1991), the “Leuvens Instrument voor Coërcief Opvoedingsgedrag” (Leuvens Instrument of Coercive Parenting Behavior, LICO) (Hellinckx et al., 2000) and the Parenting Scale (Arnold, O'Leary, Wolff, & Acker, 1993) of 674 school-aged boys and girls of a proportional stratified general population sample, assessed annually for three years. A significant nonlinear decline in aggressive and a significant linear decline in delinquent problem behavior were found both in the mother and in the father ratings. A multivariate latent growth analysis indicated that trajectories in aggressive and delinquent problem behavior were positively associated. The association was stronger for boys than for girls. Parenting behaviors were differentially related to children's aggressive and delinquent problem behavior. Coercion was significantly related to aggressive behavior but not to delinquent behavior. Higher scores on coercion were related to higher initial levels and a slower decrease of aggressive behavior. High scores on overreactivity were associated with higher initial levels of aggressive and delinquent problem behavior but not with the growth rates. Boys were higher than girls in initial status. Conversely, the rate of change was not related to gender. The results were replicated in the father reports.

Neurobiological adaptations to violence across development

Developmental adaptations to violent environments involve a multitude of cascading effects spanning many levels of analysis from genes to behavior. In this review, we (a) examine the potentiating effects of violence on genetic vulnerabilities and the functioning of neurotransmitter systems in producing both internalizing and externalizing psychopathology; (b) describe implications of violence exposure for brain development, particularly within the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex; and (c) consider the effects of violence on developing human stress and startle responses. This review integrates literatures on the developmental effects of violence among rodents, nonhuman primates, and humans. Many neurobiological changes that are adaptive for survival in violent contexts become maladaptive in other environments, conferring life-long risk for psychopathology.

Multicultural assessment of child and adolescent psychopathology with ASEBA and SDQ instruments: research findings, applications, and future directions

Around the world, cultural blending and conflict pose challenges for assessment and understanding of psychopathology. Economical, evidence-based, culturally robust assessment is needed for research, for answering public health questions, and for evaluating immigrant, refugee, and minority children. This article applies multicultural perspectives to behavioral, emotional, and social problems assessed on dimensions describing children's functioning, as rated by parents, teachers, children, and others. The development of Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment (ASEBA) and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) forms and their applications to multicultural research are presented. A primary aim of both questionnaires is to identify children at high risk of psychiatric disorders and who therefore warrant further assessment. The forms are self-administered or administered by lay interviewers. ASEBA problem items are scored on 6 DSM-oriented scales and 3 broader band scales, plus 8 syndromes derived statistically as taxonomic constructs and supported by uniform confirmatory factor analyses of samples from many populations. Comparisons of ASEBA scale scores, psychometrics, and correlates are available for diverse populations. SDQ forms are scored on one broad-band scale and 5 a priori behavioral dimensions supported by data from various populations. For both instruments, factor analyses, psychometrics, and correlates are available for diverse populations. The willingness and ability of hundreds of thousands of respondents from diverse groups to complete ASEBA and SDQ forms support this approach to multicultural assessment. Although particular items and scales may have differential relevance among groups and additional assessment procedures are needed, comparable results are found in many populations. Scale scores vary more within than between populations, and distributions of scores overlap greatly among different populations. Ratings of children's problems thus indicate more heterogeneity within populations than distinctiveness between populations. Norms from multiple populations can be used to compare children's scores with relevant peer groups. Multicultural dimensional research can advance knowledge by diversifying normative data; by comparing immigrant children with nonimmigrant compatriots and with host country children; by identifying outlier findings for elucidation by emic research; and by fostering efforts to dimensionalize DSM-V diagnostic criteria.

Reward deficiency syndrome: genetic aspects of behavioral disorders

The dopaminergic and opioidergic reward pathways of the brain are critical for survival since they provide the pleasure drives for eating, love and reproduction; these are called 'natural rewards' and involve the release of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens and frontal lobes. However, the same release of dopamine and production of sensations of pleasure can be produced by 'unnatural rewards' such as alcohol, cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, nicotine, marijuana, and other drugs, and by compulsive activities such as gambling, eating, and sex, and by risk taking behaviors. Since only a minority of individuals become addicted to these compounds or behaviors, it is reasonable to ask what factors distinguish those who do become addicted from those who do not. It has usually been assumed that these behaviors are entirely voluntary and that environmental factors play the major role; however, since all of these behaviors have a significant genetic component, the presence of one or more variant genes presumably act as risk factors for these behaviors. Since the primary neurotransmitter of the reward pathway is dopamine, genes for dopamine synthesis, degradation, receptors, and transporters are reasonable candidates. However, serotonin, norepinephrine, GABA, opioid, and cannabinoid neurons all modify dopamine metabolism and dopamine neurons. We have proposed that defects in various combinations of the genes for these neurotransmitters result in a Reward Deficiency Syndrome (RDS) and that such individuals are at risk for abuse of the unnatural rewards. Because of its importance, the gene for the [figure: see text] dopamine D2 receptor was a major candidate gene. Studies in the past decade have shown that in various subject groups the Taq I A1 allele of the DRD2 gene is associated with alcoholism, drug abuse, smoking, obesity, compulsive gambling, and several personality traits. A range of other dopamine, opioid, cannabinoid, norepinephrine, and related genes have since been added to the list. Like other behavioral disorders, these are polygenically inherited and each gene accounts for only a small per cent of the variance. Techniques such as the Multivariate Analysis of Associations, which simultaneously examine the contribution of multiple genes, hold promise for understanding the genetic make up of polygenic disorders.

Satisfaction of parents with their conduct-disordered and substance-abusing youth

This study examined parental satisfaction (using the Parent Satisfaction With Youth Scale) in 132 parents of adolescents who were dually diagnosed with conduct disorder/oppositional defiant disorder and drug abuse/dependence. Results indicated parental satisfaction did not vary as a function of age, ethnic minority status, or gender. Parents of younger youth were generally more dissatisfied than parents of older adolescents although younger youth were no more delinquent than older youth. These results suggest that parents of delinquent youth become tolerant of their children's behavior problems with time. As expected, parents were most dissatisfied with their youth's use of drugs, illicit behavior, school performance, and response to discipline. Parents who endorsed lower levels of satisfaction reported their youth engaged in more pronounced levels of problem behavior and more drug use than did parents who were relatively more satisfied with their youth. Study implications and future directions are discussed.

Polygenic inheritance of Tourette syndrome, stuttering, attention deficit hyperactivity, conduct, and oppositional defiant disorder: the additive and subtractive effect of the three dopaminergic genes--DRD2, D beta H, and DAT1

Polymorphisms of three different dopaminergic genes, dopamine D2 receptor (DRD2), dopamine beta-hydroxylase (D beta H), and dopamine transporter (DAT1), were examined in Tourette syndrome (TS) probands, their relatives, and controls. Each gene individually showed a significant correlation with various behavioral variables in these subjects. The additive and substractive effects of the three genes were examined by genotyping all three genes in the same set of subjects. For 9 of 20 TS associated comorbid behaviors there was a significant linear association between the degree of loading for markers of three genes and the mean behavior scores. The behavior variables showing the significant associations were, in order attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), stuttering oppositional defiant, tics, conduct, obsessive-compulsive, mania, alcohol abuse and general anxiety-behaviors that constitute the most overt clinical aspects of TS. For 16 of the 20 behavior scores there was a linear progressive decrease in the mean score with progressively lesser loading for the three gene markers. These results suggest that TS, ADHD, stuttering oppositional defiant and conduct disorder, and other behaviors associated with TS, are polygenic, due in part to these three dopaminergic genes, and that the genetics of other polygenic psychiatric disorders may be deciphered using this technique.

Homovanillic acid and dopamine-beta-hydroxylase in male youth: relationships with paternal substance abuse and antisocial behavior

Recent research suggests that dopaminergic/noradrenergic system dysfunction may be associated with substance abuse and/or antisocial behavior. In order to determine whether male youth of fathers with these disorders would manifest differences in these systems when compared with youth of nonsubstance-abusing or nonantisocial fathers, levels of homovanillic acid (HVA), the metabolite of dopamine (DA) and dopamine-beta-hydroxylase (DBH), the enzyme facilitating the conversion of dopamine to norepineprhine, were studied in offspring blood samples. The subjects were 65 male youth aged 6-15 years admitted to a residential center because of behavioral disorders. Parental substance abuse and antisocial behavior were assessed through interviews, rating scales, and/or chart review. HVA and DBH were determined from blood samples obtained after admission. The findings indicated that youth of substance-abusing fathers had significantly greater levels of HVA than yough of nonsubstance-abusing fathers. Younger (< 12.0 years) boys of antisocial fathers had significantly lower DBH activity than comparably aged youth of nonantisocial fathers. The results suggest that common generational links in substance abuse and antisocial behavior in males may be associated with detectable biological parameters in susceptible youth.

Six-year predictors of problems in a national sample of children and youth: I. Cross-informant syndromes

OBJECTIVE

To illuminate the development of psychopathology by tracing 6-year predictive paths to outcomes assessed in terms of empirically based syndromes.

METHOD

A national sample assessed at ages 4 through 12 years via parent reports was reassessed 3 and 6 years later via parent, teacher, and self-reports.

RESULTS

For syndromes having the clearest DSM counterparts, cross-informant predictive paths revealed similar traitlike patterns for Aggressive Behavior in both sexes; Delinquent Behavior was less traitlike, with greater sex differences in predictive paths; the Attention Problems syndrome was developmentally stable, but, surprisingly, it was associated with more diverse difficulties among girls than boys; conversely, Anxious/Depressed was associated with more diverse difficulties among boys than girls.

CONCLUSIONS

Quantification of problems via empirically based syndromes can detect important sex, age, and developmental variations that may be masked by uniform diagnostic cutoff points for both sexes and diverse ages. This may be especially true for diagnostic cutoff points derived mainly from clinical cases of one sex, such as depression for girls versus attention and conduct disorders for boys.

Whole blood serotonin and disruptive behaviors in juvenile obsessive-compulsive disorder

OBJECTIVE

The study was conducted with children and adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) to assess the relationship of whole blood serotonin (5-HT) content to a concurrent diagnosis of a disruptive behavior disorder (DBD) and to severity ratings of aggressive behavior.

METHOD

Eighteen children and adolescents who met DSM-III-R criteria for OCD were evaluated with a structured interview, clinician rating scales, and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Blood 5-HT concentration was assayed with a fluorometric procedure. Relationships among categorical diagnoses, dimensional ratings, and blood 5-HT content were analyzed with bivariate and multivariate techniques.

RESULTS

OCD subjects with a DBD (n = 6) had significantly higher scores than those without a DBD (n = 12) on the Total Problem scale, the Externalizing Problem scale, and several of the behavioral syndrome scales of the CBCL. Blood 5-HT concentrations were significantly lower in those with a DBD than in those without a DBD, and blood 5-HT concentrations had significant negative correlations with the Total score, the Externalizing score, and the Aggressive Behavior score of the CBCL.

CONCLUSIONS

The results provide further evidence of a significant relationship between aggressive behavior and serotonergic functioning.

Monoamine oxidase and homovanillic acid in boys with predispositions to substance abuse

Both dopaminergic dysregulation and abnormalities in monoamine oxidase (MAO) have been postulated as etiological factors in substance abuse. This study assessed whether MAO activity differed in sons of substance-abusing fathers compared with sons of nonsubstance-abusing fathers. It also assessed the levels of homovanillic acid (HVA), the metabolite of dopamine, and MAO in a group of substance-using/-abusing boys compared with peers without this history in the same setting. Sixty-five boys admitted to a residential center were evaluated on blood tests for HVA and MAO, and on a series of diagnostic instruments and questionnaires designed to elicit information about parental substance abuse and about the subject's own substance use/abuse. The results indicated tentatively that younger (< 12.0 years) sons of substance-abusing fathers had higher levels of MAO than younger sons of nonsubstance-abusing fathers. Levels of MAO in older (> or = 12.0 years) sons of substance-abusing and nonsubstance-abusing fathers did not differ. Boys with histories of significant use/abuse of substances themselves had significantly higher MAO levels and significantly lower HVA levels than peers of the same age without substance use/abuse histories.