Cortisol-Behavior Disorder Connection

(WebMD)  Male teens with conduct disorder may have a dampened physical response to stress, and that finding may eventually lead to new treatments.

That's according to Graeme Fairchild, PhD, of the psychiatry department at England's Cambridge University.

In a new study, Fairchild and colleagues studied 165 male teens, 70 of whom had conduct disorder, which can include rule-breaking and aggressive, destructive, or deceitful behavior.

The teens provided saliva samples throughout the day, including after experiments designed to frustrate and provoke them (such as a playing a doomed-to-lose game with a taunting opponent).

The researchers measured levels of the stress hormone cortisol in the teens' saliva samples, and they monitored the teens' heart rates during the stress-inducing experiments.

Stress typically raises cortisol levels and heart rates. But in Fairchild's study, heart rates and salivary cortisol levels didn't spike as high in teens with conduct disorder, compared to the other teens.

But emotionally, it was a different story. Stress worsened the moods of all of the teens, regardless of conduct disorder.

The finding "suggests poorer coordination between emotional and physiological arousal" in male teens with conduct disorder while under stress, Fairchild and colleagues write.

It's not clear from the study which came first - conduct disorder or less physical reactivity to stress. Past research on cortisol and conduct disorder has had mixed results, Fairchild's team notes.

"If we can figure out precisely what underlies the inability to show a normal stress response, we may be able to design new treatments for severe behavior problems," Fairchild says in a news release.

The study appears in the Oct. 1 edition of Biological Psychiatry.
By Miranda Hitti
Reviewed by Louise Chang
©2005-2008 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved

[Jerry_Flo]

Very helpful, I like this post!
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[baileyccc]

Who decide that synthetic chemicals is the answer? Profits by Big Pharma are way more important getting to the underlying problem. Cover up the symptoms seems to be the main order of business.

[sean7phil]

First it doesn''t all come down to chemicals-- but yes chemicals are about half of the story (depending on the problem).

Second-- these kids are sociopathic (they have too little anxiety) and yes they do need to feel more anxiety (especially social anxiety) wheras most people need to feel less anxiety.

[kenhamlett]

For those interested in research curiosities The new York Times has an interesting article that although it is not directly connected to this research is interesting:
Top Psychiatrist Didn%u2019t Report Drug Makers%u2019 Pay
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/04/health/policy/04drug.html?pagewanted=1&amp;_r=1&amp;hp

[kenhamlett]

Is the goal of the study to find a way to increase stress levels? This is the sort of research designed to waste money in the name of science.
Adults that were former trouble makers could shed more light on the behavior than this sort of study, and the low stress responses are not some evil abnormality. So what is the point? The mood changes are expected.
The study does show the sleazy behavior of the researchers unless the so called doomed to lose game was specifically approved by the subject victims in advance. Teens have to learn the &quot;rules&quot; of deception to adjust for the stress. Of course it is typical that shrinks need an edge by hiding the rules of engagement from their victims.
The march towards a drugged society marches on.