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Prenatal testosterone increases sensitivity to prenatal stressors in males with disruptive behavior disorders.

ABSTRACT: Disruptive Behavior Disorders (DBD) exhibit a sex-biased prevalence rate favoring boys, and prenatal testosterone exposure appears to be part of the complex etiology of these disorders. The current study examines whether high prenatal testosterone exposure may heighten the risk for DBD symptoms in males by increasing susceptibility to negative environmental conditions such as maternal nicotine and alcohol use during pregnancy. Participants were 109 three- to six-year-olds (64% male; 72% with DBD) and their 109 primary caregivers and 55 daycare providers/teachers who completed a multi-informant diagnostic procedure. A proxy of prenatal testosterone exposure, finger-length ratios, interacted with maternal report of prenatal nicotine use to predict teacher-rated hyperactivity-impulsivity during preschool, for boys, but not girls, although the three-way interaction was not significant. Prenatal testosterone interacted with prenatal alcohol exposure to predict teacher-rated hyperactivity-impulsivity and ODD symptoms differentially based on child sex (significant three-way interaction). Boys with higher levels of prenatal testosterone who were also exposed to higher levels of nicotine and alcohol during pregnancy exhibited increased hyperactivity-impulsivity during early childhood, but girls did not exhibit this same pattern. Thus, high prenatal testosterone exposure seems to increase risk for DBD symptoms particularly in males by increasing susceptibility to prenatal environmental stressors.

SUBMITTER: Martel MM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4295486 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jul-Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Prenatal testosterone increases sensitivity to prenatal stressors in males with disruptive behavior disorders.

Martel Michelle M MM Roberts Bethan A BA

Neurotoxicology and teratology 20140510

Disruptive Behavior Disorders (DBD) exhibit a sex-biased prevalence rate favoring boys, and prenatal testosterone exposure appears to be part of the complex etiology of these disorders. The current study examines whether high prenatal testosterone exposure may heighten the risk for DBD symptoms in males by increasing susceptibility to negative environmental conditions such as maternal nicotine and alcohol use during pregnancy. Participants were 109 three- to six-year-olds (64% male; 72% with DBD ...[more]

PMID: 24819590

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Project description:ObjectiveYouths with disruptive behavior disorders (DBD) (conduct disorder and oppositional defiant disorder) have an elevated risk for maladaptive reactive aggression. Theory suggests that this is due to an elevated sensitivity of basic threat circuitry implicated in retaliation (amygdala/periaqueductal gray) in youths with DBD and low levels of callous-unemotional traits and dysfunctional regulatory activity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex in youths with DBD irrespective of callous-unemotional traits.MethodA total of 56 youths 10-18 years of age (23 of them female) participated in the study: 30 youths with DBD, divided by median split into groups with high and low levels of callous-unemotional traits, and 26 healthy youths. All participants completed an ultimatum game task during functional MRI.ResultsRelative to the other groups, youths with DBD and low levels of callous-unemotional traits showed greater increases in activation of basic threat circuitry when punishing others and dysfunctional down-regulation of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex during retaliation. Relative to healthy youths, all youths with DBD showed reduced amygdala-ventromedial prefrontal cortex connectivity during high provocation. Ventromedial prefrontal cortex responsiveness and ventromedial prefrontal cortex-amygdala connectivity were related to patients' retaliatory propensity (behavioral responses during the task) and parent-reported reactive aggression.ConclusionsThese data suggest differences in the underlying neurobiology of maladaptive reactive aggression in youths with DBD who have relatively low levels of callous-unemotional traits. Youths with DBD and low callous-unemotional traits alone showed significantly greater threat responses during retaliation relative to comparison subjects. These data also suggest that ventromedial prefrontal cortex-amygdala connectivity is critical for regulating retaliation/reactive aggression and, when dysfunctional, contributes to reactive aggression, independent of level of callous-unemotional traits.

Dataset Information

Prenatal testosterone increases sensitivity to prenatal stressors in males with disruptive behavior disorders.

Publications

Prenatal testosterone increases sensitivity to prenatal stressors in males with disruptive behavior disorders.

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