Psychopathy's influence on the coupling between hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal and ‐gonadal axes among incarcerated adolescents

Abstract

Conduct disorder (CD) is a heterogeneous diagnosis, leading researchers to initiate research into the neurobiological mechanisms underlying this disorder. One specifier of CD currently considered for inclusion in the DSM-V is callous-unemotional (CU) traits. CU traits are thought to have neuroendocrine underpinnings, yet little is known about Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) and –Gonadal (HPG) hormones in the context of psychopathic traits. The current study sought to identify daily coupling patterns between HPA and HPG hormones in order to clarify distinct neurobiological underpinning associated with psychopathic/CU traits. Fifty incarcerated adolescent males who met criteria for CD were recruited and provided 10 saliva samples across two days. Participants completed the Psychopathy Checklist Youth Version (PCL:YV) and Inventory of Callous Unemotional Traits (ICU) on a third day. Diurnal cortisol, testosterone, and DHEA functioning was modeled via hierarchical linear modeling. Psychopathy subscales from the measures administered were used as predictors of daily coupling patterns between these hormones. Results indicated that all three hormones were tightly coupled. Further, higher PCL-YV interpersonal scores related to greater coupling between all three hormones, whereas higher ICU callousness scores related to greater uncoupling of testosterone with cortisol and DHEA. The current study is novel in its emphasis on testing the coupling of HPA and HPG hormones among incarcerated adolescent males. Results suggest that affective and interpersonal psychopathic traits are marked by unique HPA- and HPG- coupling.

Coordination of the cortisol and testosterone responses: A dual axis approach to understanding the response to social status threats

“…While different situations can result in different levels of coordinated activation of cortisol and testosterone responses, the same situation may be perceived as a bigger threat to one's social status by some individuals, resulting in coordinated activation of top-down processes in the brain leading to a coordinated cortisol-testosterone response . Thus, keeping the situation constant, individual differences such as low dominance, high anxiety, and high negative affectivity may all predict stronger coupling, which is in line with previous findings that adolescents who are less callous and have more life adversity-and veterans with more traumatic military experiences-show stronger cortisol-testosterone coupling Johnson et al, 2014). It may be that individuals who have developed a sensitivity to social threats developed mechanisms to produce a coordinated response to such threats, activating and deactivating both axes in concert according to perceived changes in threat levels.…”

“…It would be even more informative, however, to examine the degree of coordination among multiple hormones. Studies examining within-adolescent associations between cortisol and testosterone responses reported positive coupling for adolescents (Marceau et al, 2013;Dismukes et al, 2014;Johnson et al, 2014;Marceau et al, 2014). The present findings suggest that during the different phases of a social-evaluative situation, cortisol and testosterone also show coordinated activation in adult men, in pre/early pubertal boys, and in pre/early pubertal girls, suggesting that coupling is not specific to adolescence.…”

“…Several studies examined within-person cortisol-testosterone coupling for adolescents across the day (during normal daily situations), and usually found evidence for positive coupling (Marceau et al, 2013;Ruttle et al, 2013;Dismukes et al, 2014;Johnson et al, 2014). In a study using multiple manipulated stressors, Marceau et al (2014) also found a positive within-person association (i.e., coupling) between cortisol and testosterone responses for adolescents.…”

“…Indeed, the literature suggests that adolescents with more life adversity and less callousness Johnson et al, 2014), and veterans with more traumatic military experiences show stronger cortisol-testosterone coupling (Bobadilla et al, 2014).…”

Dissociable relations between amygdala subregional networks and psychopathy trait dimensions in conduct‐disordered juvenile offenders

“…Behavioral and neurobiological data suggest that in some cases individuals with psychopathic traits can perform particularly well in representing and understanding others' intentions, emotions, and desires (i.e., theory of mind) [Bird and Viding, 2014; Johnson et al, 2014; Jones et al, 2010; O'nions et al, 2014; Sebastian et al, 2012], and this apparently may aid their alleged “social predatorism” [Book et al, 2007; Dolan and Fullam, 2004; Nentjes et al, 2015; Sandvik et al, 2014; Wheeler et al, 2009]. However, our finding could also reflect excessive bottom‐up signaling of motivational salience, which may impair distinguishing one's egocentric desires and values from those of others, and shape a potentially self‐centered/narcissistic profile.…”