Testosterone and cortisol modulate the effects of empathy on aggression in children

Association Between Estradiol and Human Aggression: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

OBJECTIVE

Although several studies have examined the association between estradiol and human aggression, a consistent understanding of their correlation has yet to be established. This study aimed to investigate this relationship comprehensively.

METHODS

We systematically searched five English databases (PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and CINAHL) from their inception to June 5, 2023. Two authors independently screened publications and extracted data based on predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Statistical analyses were performed using Review Manager 5.4, and a random-effects model was used to pool the data.

RESULTS

We identified 14 eligible studies comprising data from 1820 participants that met the inclusion criteria. This meta-analysis indicated a positive correlation between estradiol and human aggression, albeit a weak one. The pooled Fisher z value was 0.16 (95% confidence interval = 0.05-0.26; I2 = 73%, p <.00001). Furthermore, we found that participants' sex and age, the measures of aggression, and the literature quality might be sources of heterogeneity.

CONCLUSIONS

Human aggression exhibited a weak positive correlation with estradiol concentration, whereas this relationship was influenced by participants' sex and age, the measure of aggression used, and the quality assessment of the literature. Gaining a better understanding of the association between estradiol and aggression could aid in the identification of populations prone to aggression.

Do prepubertal hormones, 2D:4D index and psychosocial context jointly explain 11-year-old preadolescents' involvement in bullying?

BACKGROUND

Bullying is a type of aggressive behavior that occurs repeatedly and intentionally in school environments and where there is a power imbalance. The main objective of this study was to analyze the association that hormones and the psychosocial context jointly have with bullying behavior.

METHOD

Participants were 302 11-year-old preadolescents from the Gipuzkoan cohort of the INMA Project. Bullying was assessed using the Olweus Bully/victim Questionnaire. Prenatal sexual hormones were assessed by calculating 2D:4D ratio and in order to measure prepubertal testosterone and cortisol levels saliva samples were collected within a week of each other. Additionally, various psychosocial factors were evaluated: executive function, family context, school environment and social context. To analyze our complex hypothesis, six metamodels were tested using structural equation modeling.

RESULTS

In relation to victims, results showed that victimization was related to worse school environment' perception in boys, and higher stress and conflict in the family in girls. In the case of their involvement in bullying as a bully, lower salivary cortisol levels, worse school environment' perception and lower peers and social support was related to being more frequently involved as a bully in boys, while having more family stress and conflict was related with being a bully in girls.

CONCLUSIONS

This approach makes it possible not only to explore the different biological and psychosocial factors affect bullying behavior, but also to explore associations between the predictor variables.

Measures of empathy in children and adolescents: A systematic review of questionnaires

BACKGROUND

Empathy has long been considered a multidimensional construct, encompassing cognitive, affective and behavioral domains. Deficits in empathic competences in early childhood contribute to psychopathology, and have been variably implicated in several clinical conditions, such as autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and conduct disorders.

AIM

To identify and describe empirically validated questionnaires assessing empathy in children and adolescents and to provide a summary of related theoretical perspectives on empathy definitional issues.

METHODS

A systematic review of the literature was conducted. Three bibliographic databases were searched. A total of 47 studies were selected for final analysis and 16 distinct measures were identified and described.

RESULTS

Questionable to excellent levels of internal consistency were observed, while few studies assessed test-retest reliability. Although construct definitions only partially overlapped, affective and cognitive domains of empathy were the commonest internal factors that were often separately evaluated. New facets of the construct (i.e., somatic empathy and sympathy) and specific clinical populations (i.e., ASD) could be specifically addressed through more recent instruments.

CONCLUSION

The combination of different assessment methods is recommended in order to foresee further improvements in this field and try to overcome the problem of limited convergence with more objective measures.

Social cognition and cortisol in the general population: A systematic review and meta-analysis

This systematic review examines the evidence on the association between social cognition and cortisol in the general population. Literature was searched in six databases. Of the 401 studies identified, meta-analyses were conducted on 46 effect sizes (Pearson's correlation coefficients) from 19 studies, supplemented by a narrative review. Pooled estimates suggest that better emotion control is associated with increased cortisol concentrations [r = 0.083, 95% CI (0.033, 0.132)]. Emotion recognition or empathy were not significantly associated with cortisol concentrations [r = 0.072, 95% CI (-0.020, 0.165) and r = 0.004, 95% CI (-0.061, 0.068) respectively]. Subgroup analyses showed that the association between emotion control and cortisol concentrations is significant in males, for morning cortisol, when the cortisol data are transformed to correct for skewed distributions, or when participants are instructed to avoid food and drink intake for at least one hour before sample collection. There was no evidence for an association between social cognition with diurnal cortisol slope or cortisol awakening response. More validation work with greater standardization of methodological procedures is required.

A multilevel examination of lifetime aggression: integrating cortical thickness, personality pathology and trauma exposure

Aggression represents a significant public health concern, causing serious physical and psychological harm. Although many studies have sought to characterize the etiology of aggression, research on the contributions of risk factors that span multiple levels of analysis for explaining aggressive behavior is lacking. To address this gap, we investigated the direct and unique contributions of cortical thickness (level 1), pathological personality traits (level 2) and trauma exposure (level 3) for explaining lifetime physical aggression in a high-risk sample of community adults (N = 129, 47.3% men). First, the frequency of lifetime aggression was inversely associated with cortical thickness in regions of prefrontal and temporal cortices that have been implicated in executive functioning, inhibitory mechanisms and socio-emotional processing. Further, aggression was positively associated with pathological personality traits (antagonism and disinhibition) and exposure to assaultive trauma. Notably, all three levels of analysis (cortical thickness, pathological personality traits and assaultive trauma exposure) explained non-overlapping variance in aggressive behavior when examined simultaneously in integrative models. Together, the findings provide a multilevel assessment of the biopsychosocial factors associated with the frequency of aggression. They also indicate that cortical thickness explains novel variance in these harmful behaviors not captured by well-established personality and environmental risk factors for aggression.

Adrenocortical Activity and Aggressive Behavior in Children: A Longitudinal Study on Risk and Protective Effects

Most research on aggression and delinquency concentrates on risk factors. There has been less attention for protective factors and mechanisms, in particular with regard to biosocial influences. Based on theories of autonomous arousal and stress reactance the present study addresses the influence of adrenocortical activity as a risk and/or protective factor in the development of antisocial behavior in children. We also investigated relations to anxiousness and family stressors. In a prospective longitudinal study of 150 German boys, the first measurement took place at preschool age and contained an assessment of cortisol after waking up and 30 min later. Aggressiveness and anxiousness of the children were assessed by the kindergarten teachers with the Social Behavior Questionnaire. After 6 years, the children's behavior was rated by the teachers in middle school. Variable-oriented data analyses revealed a significant correlation between the total amount of cortisol after waking up and 30 min later (AUC _G ) and anxiousness both cross-sectionally and longitudinally, but not with aggressiveness. A family stress index correlated positively with aggressiveness but neither with cortisol nor with anxiousness. There were significant correlations between aggressiveness and anxiousness at kindergarten age and the respective behavior problems 6 years later. In a linear regression analysis on aggression only family stress had a significant effect but anxiousness not. Moderator analyses on aggressiveness with anxiousness and AUC _G or on AUC _G with anxiousness and aggressiveness did not show any significant interactions. Longitudinally, only aggression significantly predicted aggression 6 years later in a linear regression. In addition to variable-oriented analyses, we also applied a person-oriented approach to investigate specific patterns of behavior. Children who were high in both aggressiveness and anxiousness had the highest cortisol level and those with low anxiousness and high aggressiveness the lowest. The groups with different patterns of externalizing and internalizing problems at preschool age showed significant differences in aggression 6 years later. Our results underline the need for complex pattern analyses on cortisol, aggression, and anxiousness in children and for a differentiated consideration of emotional reactive aggression and unemotional instrumental aggression.

The personality dispositions and resting-state neural correlates associated with aggressive children

Despite aggression being detrimental to children's physical health, mental health and social development, the dispositional and neurological antecedents of aggression in the child are poorly understood. Here we examined the relationship between trait aggression as measured by Buss and Warren's Aggression Questionnaire and personality traits measured with Big Five Questionnaire for Children in 77 primary-school children and recorded resting-state brain activity (fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations [fALFF]) and resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) using functional magnetic resonance imaging. The present results showed that trait aggression was negatively correlated with agreeableness and positively correlated with neuroticism. The brain analyses showed that children with a higher propensity for aggression had a lower fALFF mainly in the left superior temporal gyrus, right parahippocampal gyrus and left supramarginal gyrus. Physical and total aggressions were negatively associated with rsFC between the right parahippocampal gyrus and the right putamen. Further analysis revealed that this rsFC could moderate the influence of neuroticism on total aggression. Moreover, the results suggest the presence of a sex difference in the neurodevelopmental mechanisms underlying aggression in middle childhood. Overall, our findings indicate that aggressive children have lower agreeableness and higher neuroticism, and the underlying neural systems are mainly implicated in social judgment and empathy.

Endocrine Regulations in Human-Dog Coexistence through Domestication

Endocrine system regulation is important for the maintenance of homeostasis; it controls hormonal functions in complex physiology and behavior and adaptations to social environments. Evidence indicates that for more than 35 000 years, dogs (Canis familiaris) have been domesticated through living with humans. For example, they have acquired human-like social skills, such as eye gazing and pointing gestures. These unique behaviors are, at least partially, regulated by hormones and are thought to have been genetically altered throughout domestication. Glucocorticoids affect social tolerance, while oxytocin facilitates social coordination and familiarity between individuals. We review historical and recent literature to facilitate an understanding of the roles of glucocorticoid and oxytocin functions in the human-canine coexistence dynamic established during domestication.