The relationship between aggression, empathy skills and serum oxytocin levels in male children and adolescents with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder

Abstract

Although attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are recognized as neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by impairment in executive functions, impairments in social functioning are often accompanied by ADHD. Oxytocin (OT) has been investigated in a number of psychiatric disorders owing to its effects on social interactions. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between aggression, empathy and OT levels in children with ADHD. Forty male patients with ADHD, ranging in age from 7 to 18 years, and 40 healthy age-matched and sex-matched individuals were included in this study. The patients and healthy controls filled in the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire and Bryant's Empathy Index for Children and Adolescents; the Reading the Mind in the Eyes test was then completed. Blood samples were collected for OT at the beginning of the study. Lower serum OT levels were observed in patients with ADHD compared with the healthy controls. Moreover, there was a negative correlation between serum OT level and aggression scores and a positive correlation between the serum OT level and empathy scores in patients with ADHD. We conclude that OT may play a role in aggression and empathy skills, affecting the social life of those with ADHD.

Maternal depression impacts child psychopathology across the first decade of life: Oxytocin and synchrony as markers of resilience

“…Furthermore, OT has been associated with resilience in high‐risk contexts at this age. Attenuated salivary OT was found in 7–15‐year‐old children with separation anxiety that increased following sensitive mother–child interaction (Lebowitz et al., ); 9–11‐year‐old children exposed to chronic trauma exhibited lower OT only when their mothers sensitive parenting was low (Ulmer‐Yaniv et al., ); lower serum OT levels were found in children with ADHD and higher OT correlated with lower impulsivity and aggression and more empathy in these children (Demirci, Ozmen, Kilic, & Oztop, ; Demirci, Özmen, & Öztop, ); and children's plasma and cerebrospinal fluid OT concentrations predicted lower anxiety (Carson et al., ).…”

Hypopituitarism is associated with lower oxytocin concentrations and reduced empathic ability

“…As this line of research has developed, so has the interest in the therapeutic potential of OT to treat a range of psychological disorders that are characterised by deficits in these social behaviours. Indeed research has shown that several of these disorders (autism spectrum disorder [9], attention deficit hyperactivity disorder [10], and depression [11]) are associated with disrupted OT systems, and that intranasal OT administration can attenuate (to some extent) the characteristic empathy deficits [12, 13]. Thus prior research has shown that specific psychological disorders show a deficit in cognitive empathy, and that cognitive empathy can be moderated by OT.…”

Social cognitive deficits in male children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in relation to salivary oxytocin level

“…In this study, the age of the study group was selected from 6 to 12 years old. This was guided by studies in literature which studied behavioral problems and cognition in ADHD [22,23].…”