Biomedical subjects

Stephanie H M van Goozen

Publications and source records attributed to Stephanie H M van Goozen.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2007

The evidence for a neurobiological model of childhood antisocial behavior.

Children with persistent antisocial and aggressive behavior are diagnosed as having disruptive behavior disorder. The authors review evidence that antisocial children, and especially those who persist with this behavior as they grow older, have a range of neurobiological characteristics. It is argued that serotonergic functioning and stress-regulating mechanisms are important in explaining individual differences in antisocial behavior. Moreover, low fear of punishment and physiological underactivity may predispose antisocial individuals to seek out stimulation or take risks and may help to explain poor conditioning and socialization. The authors propose a theoretical model highlighting the interplay between neurobiological deficits and cognitive and emotional functioning as mediators of the link between early adversity and antisocial behavior problems in childhood. Implications for intervention programs are discussed.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗

PubMed2006

Neuroendocrine and neurotransmitter correlates in children with antisocial behavior.

When antisocial behavior becomes a persistent pattern that affects diverse domains of children's functioning, psychiatrists refer to oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) or conduct disorder (CD). The term disruptive behavior disorder (DBD) covers both ODD and CD. Research shows that in the absence of effective interventions, the prognosis for DBD children is relatively unfavorable: their disorder can extend into adolescence, manifest itself in delinquency, and convert into other psychiatric symptoms, such as addiction or personality disorders. Although environmental factors have traditionally attracted most attention in explaining the origin and persistence of DBDs, it is important not to overlook the vulnerability of the child in the development of antisocial behavior. Relatively few studies have been conducted on the neurobiological factors involved in the development of DBDs in children. In this paper, we explain how problems in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and serotonergic system functioning could be important factors in the behavioral problems of DBD children. Low fear of punishment and physiological underactivity may predispose antisocial individuals to seek out stimulation or take risks and may explain poor (social) conditioning and socialization. Findings consistent with this hypothesis are presented. Finally, we explain how stress in general, and adverse early life experiences in particular, could have an impact on the development of the HPA and serotonergic systems. An investigation of the neurobiological factors involved in antisocial behavior disorder might ultimately guide the development of new forms of intervention.

Aggression↗

PubMed2006

Salivary testosterone and aggression, delinquency, and social dominance in a population-based longitudinal study of adolescent males.

Testosterone (T) has been found to have a stimulating effect on aggressive behavior in a wide range of vertebrate species. There is also some evidence of a positive relationship in humans, albeit less consistently. In the present study we investigated the relationship between T and aggression, dominance and delinquency over time, covering a period from early adolescence to adulthood. From a large population-based sample (n = 1.161) a subgroup of 96 boys was selected whose behavior had been assessed repeatedly by different informants from age 12 to 21 years, and who had provided multiple T samples over these years of assessment. On the whole, a decrease in aggressive and delinquent behavior was observed in a period in which T rises dramatically. Boys who developed a criminal record, had higher T levels at age 16. In addition, positive associations were observed between T and proactive and reactive aggression and self-reported delinquent behavior. Over the pubertal years different forms of aggressive and delinquent behavior were positively related to T, which may indicate that specific positive links are dependent on the social setting in which this relationship is assessed.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Transsexual subtypes: clinical and theoretical significance.

The present study was designed to investigate whether transsexuals can be validly subdivided into subtypes on the basis of sexual orientation, and whether differences between subtypes of transsexuals are similar for male-to-female (MF) and female-to-male transsexuals (FMs). Within a large transsexual sample (n=187), homosexual and nonhomosexual subjects were compared on a number of characteristics before the start of treatment. Differences within MF and FM groups were also investigated. Homosexual transsexuals were found to be younger when applying for sex reassignment, reported a stronger cross-gender identity in childhood, had a more convincing cross-gender appearance, and functioned psychologically better than nonhomosexual transsexuals. Moreover, a lower percentage of the homosexual transsexuals reported being (or having been) married and sexually aroused while cross-dressing. The pattern of findings was different for MFs and FMs. No differences between homosexuals and nonhomosexuals were found in height, weight, or body mass index. A distinction between subtypes of transsexuals on the basis of sexual orientation seems theoretically and clinically meaningful. The results support the notion that in the two groups different factors influence the decision to apply for sex reassignment. The more vulnerable nonhomosexual transsexuals may particularly benefit from additional professional guidance before and/or during treatment.

Female↗

PubMed2005

Adolescent anorexia nervosa patients have a discrepancy between neurophysiological responses and self-reported emotional arousal to psychosocial stress.

In both clinical practice and research, eating disorder patients are reported to have difficulties in identifying and describing their feelings. They are often described as being unaware of the linkage between their feelings and their behavior. The present study experimentally induced emotions in adolescent anorexia nervosa (AN) patients to examine both self-reported emotional arousal and neurophysiological responses. A group of 10 AN patients and a group of 22 healthy controls (HC) were compared with respect to changes in self-reported emotional arousal and neurophysiological responses, heart rate (HR) and HPA-axis response (cortisol in saliva) during a public speaking test inducing anxious stress. The AN group reported higher levels of anxiety, as a result of stress, but this was not reflected in their HR or cortisol response. By contrast, in the HC group higher levels of self-reported anxiety coincided with clear increases in HR and cortisol. The data indicate that AN patients, in contrast to healthy individuals, show a discordance between self-reported emotional and neurophysiological arousal during psychosocial stress.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Prediction of adolescent outcome in children with disruptive behaviour disorders--a study of neurobiological, psychological and family factors.

In this preliminary study we explored the predictive influence of various family, psychological, demographic, and neurobiological characteristics on the persistence of antisocial behaviour in adolescence. Existing data were combined with case-records in a sample of 47 disruptive behaviour disordered (DBD) children who had been treated in in-patient and/or day-treatment units when they were between seven to 12 years old. Parent-rated and self-rated externalizing problem scores and the presence of a DBD diagnosis served as the outcome measures in adolescence. We used linear regression analyses to examine the predictors of adolescent outcome. A lower basal skin conductance level (SCL) was repeatedly found to predict poor adolescent outcome, either when rated by parents or by participants themselves. In addition, comorbid attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, one aspect of performance on the door-opening task, and a mother of low socioeconomic status also predicted that a child would have more antisocial problems in adolescence, depending on the type of outcome measure. Results of this study support the fearlessness theory, according to which low activity of the autonomous nervous system, as manifested by low SCL, is related to the effectiveness of socializing punishment and accordingly to poor socialization and adolescent outcome.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Maternal serum steroid levels are unrelated to fetal sex: a study in twin pregnancies.

Increased prenatal exposure to testosterone (T) in females of an opposite-sex (OS) twin pair may have an effect on the development of sex-typical cognitive and behavioral patterns. The prenatal exposure to T due to hormone transfer in OS twin females may occur in two ways, one directly via the feto-fetal transfer route within the uterus, the other indirectly through maternal-fetal transfer and based in the maternal-fetal compartment. Although some studies in singletons indeed found that women pregnant with a male fetus have higher T levels during gestation than women pregnant with a female fetus, many other studies could not find any relation between the sex of the fetus and maternal serum steroid levels. Therefore at present it is unclear whether a pregnant woman bearing a male has higher levels of T than a woman bearing a female. Up to this point, no-one has investigated this issue in twin pregnancies. We examined the relationship between maternal serum steroid levels and sex of fetus in 17 female-female, 9 male-male and 29 OS twin pregnancies. No differences were observed between the maternal serum steroid levels of women expecting single-sex and mixed-sex offspring. It is concluded that the source of prenatal T exposure in females probably comes from the fetal unit, which is the direct route of fetal hormone transfer.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Is there an effect of prenatal testosterone on aggression and other behavioral traits? A study comparing same-sex and opposite-sex twin girls.

Men and women differ in temperament and personality traits, such as aggression and sensation seeking. The sex hormone testosterone could play a role in the origin of these differences, but it remains unclear how and when testosterone could have these effects. One way to investigate the prenatal exposure effect of testosterone is to compare opposite-sex (OS) and same-sex (SS) female twins. It has been suggested that OS twin girls are exposed prenatally to elevated testosterone levels and that this may result in some masculinization of their personality and behavior. We measured sexually dimorphic traits and circulating testosterone levels in 13-year-old OS (n = 74) and SS (n = 55) twins. Testosterone levels showed a clear circadian rhythm, with higher levels in the morning than in the afternoon. Testosterone was higher in boys than girls, but similar in OS and SS twin girls. Testosterone was not in any way systematically related to the different personality traits. However, a sex difference in aggression proneness was observed, and OS girls showed a more masculine pattern of aggression proneness than the SS girls. It is argued that it is unlikely that this difference is due to social factors, such as a gender-specific upbringing.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Emotional functioning in anorexia nervosa patients: adolescents compared to adults.

Studies concerning eating disorder patients have revealed the presence of alexithymia, depressive, and anxiety disorders. We compared these aspects of emotional functioning in two groups of anorexia nervosa (AN) patients: adolescents vs. adults. Forty-eight adolescent anorexia nervosa patients (ADO) and 23 adult anorexia nervosa patients (ADU) completed a battery of tasks and questionnaires to measure these different aspects of emotional functioning and to control for differences of a more general cognitive nature. Both groups showed marked resemblance; both had high alexithymia scores and performed worse on emotional tasks measuring aspects of alexithymia. Furthermore, both groups showed high percentages of depressive and anxiety disorders, with the ADU group scoring only higher on specific and social phobia than the ADO group. Adult and adolescent AN patient groups do not differ substantially with respect to emotional functioning.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Emotional functioning in adolescent anorexia nervosa patients--a controlled study.

OBJECTIVE: In this study, emotional functioning of adolescent anorexia nervosa patients was compared with two control groups; another internalizing psychiatric outpatient group and a healthy control group. METHODS: Forty-eight anorexia nervosa patients (AN), 21 other psychiatric outpatients with depressive and/or anxiety disorders (PSYCH) and 48 healthy controls (HC) completed a battery of tasks and questionnaires designed to measure different aspects of emotional functioning. Cognitive (parallel) tasks were administered to control for differences of a cognitive nature. RESULTS: The AN and the PSYCH groups had clear deficits in emotional functioning compared to the HC group. Considering the data from the alexithymia questionnaire, it was the AN group who scored significantly worse on emotional functioning when compared to the HC group. Considering the data from the emotional tasks, both psychiatric groups performed worse than the HC group in their processing of visual emotional information and the PSYCH group had more difficulty in memorizing responses to auditory emotional stimuli than the AN and HC group. Furthermore, the PSYCH group processed auditory emotional information more slowly than the HC group. No differences between the three groups were found on the non-emotional, cognitive tasks. CONCLUSION: Both the AN and PSYCH patients show deficits in their processing of emotional information and details are discussed.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Response perseveration and sensitivity to reward and punishment in boys with oppositional defiant disorder.

Response perseveration is the tendency to continue a response set for reward despite punishment. In the present study, response perseveration and sensitivity to reward and punishment were assessed in boys with oppositional defiant disorder (ODD). The study also examined the relation between punishment sensitivity and autonomic arousal. Nineteen ODD boys (mean age 9.8 years) and 20 normal control boys (NC) (mean age 9.7 years) were administered the door-opening task. In this task, the subject chooses either to open the next door or to stop playing; the opening of doors is initially rewarded and then increasingly punished. ODD boys opened more doors than NC boys. Following punishment, ODD boys took less time than NC boys before opening the next door, but did not differ from NC boys in time after reward. Mean skin conductance level was lower in ODD boys than in NC boys. The correlation coefficient between time after punishment and skin conductance level was moderately positive in the total sample. These results suggest that response perseveration in ODD boys is related to low punishment sensitivity and that skin conductance level is a marker of punishment sensitivity.

Arousal↗

PubMed2004

Prenatal exposure to testosterone and functional cerebral lateralization: a study in same-sex and opposite-sex twin girls.

In animals it has been shown that exposure to sex hormones is influenced by intrauterine position. Thus fetuses located between two male fetuses are exposed to higher levels of testosterone (T) than fetuses situated between two female fetuses or one female and one male fetus. In a group of opposite-sex (OS) twin girls and same-sex (SS) twin girls a potential effect of prenatal exposure to testosterone (T) on functional cerebral lateralization was investigated. We hypothesized that prenatal exposure to T would result in a more masculine, i.e. a more lateralized pattern of cerebral lateralization in OS twin girls than in SS twin girls. An auditory-verbal dichotic listening task (DLT) was used as an indirect method to study hemispheric specialization. Firstly, we established a sex difference on the DLT. Compared with SS girls, OS twin boys showed a more lateralized pattern of processing verbal stimuli. Secondly, as predicted OS girls had a more masculine pattern of cerebral lateralization, than SS girls. These findings support the notion of an influence of prenatal T on early brain organization in girls.

Acoustic Stimulation↗

PubMed2004

Relationships between sex hormones assessed in amniotic fluid, and maternal and umbilical cord serum: what is the best source of information to investigate the effects of fetal hormonal exposure?

Levels of testosterone (T) (total and free), androstenedione (A4), dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEAS), sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), and estradiol (E2) were measured by radioimmunoassay (RIA) in 156 normal pregnancies (77 male and 79 female fetuses). Samples were obtained from amniotic fluid, 2nd and 3rd trimester maternal serum, and umbilical cord serum at birth. During the critical period of brain differentiation, at the beginning of the second trimester of pregnancy, sex differences in T and A4 were found in amniotic fluid and not in maternal serum. This finding adds to the fact that mostly low and nonsignificant correlations were found for the different androgenic hormones between levels assessed in amniotic fluid and maternal plasma at this particular and very sensitive period of fetal brain development. On the other hand, high correlations were found for the same hormones between the samples of maternal serum in the 2nd and the 3rd trimester. Our data show that, of all available sources, amniotic fluid seems to be the best candidate to investigate the effects of early fetal androgen exposure.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Cortisol and treatment effect in children with disruptive behavior disorders: a preliminary study.

OBJECTIVE: Basal cortisol and cortisol stress responsivity are valuable biological characteristics of children with disruptive behavior disorder (DBD). In this study, the predictive value of cortisol to outcome of intervention was investigated. METHOD: Basal cortisol levels and cortisol levels under stress were studied in 22 children with DBD before the start of a psychotherapeutic treatment. The disruptive behavior of the child was assessed before treatment and after cessation (9 months later). RESULTS: Children with DBD with relatively high and low basal cortisol levels differed in the severity of problem behavior at pretreatment, with the low basal cortisol group having more severe problems. During stress, children with DBD showed either increasing or decreasing cortisol values. Although these cortisol responsivity groups were similar in the severity of behavioral problems at pretreatment, the behavioral problems of the group with high cortisol stress responsivity were significantly lower after the intervention than the behavioral problems of the group with low cortisol stress responsivity. CONCLUSIONS: In children with DBD, the basal cortisol level was related to the severity of behavioral problems at pretreatment but not to the severity of behavioral problems after treatment. The cortisol response pattern during stress was related to treatment outcome.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Executive functioning in children: a comparison of hospitalised ODD and ODD/ADHD children and normal controls.

BACKGROUND: Deficits in executive functioning are supposed to have a predisposing influence on impulsive or aggressive behaviour. We tested the hypothesis that oppositional-defiant disorder (ODD) children with or without attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have problems in executive functioning. METHOD: Seventy-seven 7- to 12-year-old children (15 ODD, 26 ODD/ADHD, and 36 normal controls), all with normal IQ, completed 7 neuropsychological measures of executive functioning, assessing the abilities of set shifting, planning, working memory, inhibition/attention, and impulsivity. Some of these tasks involved the possibility of monetary rewards with a view to testing the prediction of a specific motivational inhibitory deficit. RESULTS: We found no evidence of deficits in working memory, planning, inhibition, or impulsivity. However, the ODD/ADHD group was worse than the normal control (NC) group in set shifting, and both the ODD and ODD/ADHD groups performed worse on a response perseveration task. Moreover, on the basis of one variable derived from a motivational inhibition task, 77% of the children could be correctly classified as ODD or NC. CONCLUSIONS: The findings do not support the hypothesis that ODD and ODD/ADHD children have a deficit in executive inhibitory control; rather, they emphasise that they have problems in regulating their behaviour under motivational inhibitory conditions.

Attention↗

PubMed2004

Evidence of fearlessness in behaviourally disordered children: a study on startle reflex modulation.

BACKGROUND: Patterns of low heart rate, skin conductance and cortisol seem to characterise children with disruptive behaviour disorder (DBD). Until now, the startle paradigm has not been used in DBD children. We investigated whether DBD children, like adult psychopaths, process emotional stimuli in an abnormal way. METHOD: Twenty-one DBD and 33 normal control children viewed a series of 27 positive, neutral and negative slides. Startle probes were presented unpredictably during slide presentations and eye blink reflexes were measured. RESULTS: DBD and control children showed a similar linear relationship between slide valence and startle magnitude, but the startle-elicited blinks of the DBD children were significantly lower for all categories of slides. Moreover, the more delinquent the DBD children were, the lower their startle responses during unpleasant states. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest a deficit in neurophysiological fear modulation. The implications of the findings for the fearlessness theory of antisocial behaviour are discussed.

Antisocial Personality Disorder↗

PubMed2002

Serotonergic functioning in children with oppositional defiant disorder: a sumatriptan challenge study.

BACKGROUND: Several studies support the notion that disturbances in the central serotonergic function are related to impulsive aggression. There is recent evidence from studies on 5-HT(1B) knock-out mice that this specific receptor is involved in impulsive aggressive behavior. The aim of the present study was to investigate 5-HT(1B/1D) receptor functioning in normal intelligent hospitalized children with oppositional defiant disorder (ODD). METHODS: The growth hormone (GH) response to a challenge with the 5-HT(1B/1D) agonist sumatriptan was examined in 20 children with an ODD, of whom 13 had an attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder comorbidity, and 15 normal control subjects (NC). Blood samples for growth hormone were collected repeatedly between 8:30 and 12:00 AM. Sumatriptan was administered at 10 AM. The effect of stress due to this procedure was assessed by measuring salivary cortisol. RESULTS: The GH response was significantly stronger in the children with ODD. After sumatriptan injection NC children showed a significant increase in cortisol; no such pattern was present in the ODD group. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that the postsynaptic 5-HT(1B/1D) receptor is functionally more sensitive in children with ODD.

Aggression↗

PubMed2002

Preference for aggressive and sexual stimuli in children with disruptive behavior disorder and normal controls.

Children with disruptive behavior disorders (DBD) have poor social skills and show aggressive interaction patterns. There is evidence from prospective studies of an association between early physical abuse, later social information-processing patterns, and aggressive behavior. A pattern of hypervigilance to hostile cues has been found in DBD children, but very few studies have investigated encoding or perceptual preference for specific classes of stimuli. Some DBD children have a suspected history of sexual abuse and a few have themselves been sexually offensive. Our belief that the sexuality of DBD children should be investigated raised the issue of how to go about doing this. A procedure was developed in which we measured the relative preference for sexual and aggressive stimuli in comparison to other stimulus categories, and the data of DBD children were compared with those of normal controls. It was found that DBD children preferred viewing sexual slides and had a lower preference for nonaggressive slides. Furthermore, boys in general preferred viewing aggressive slides, did so for longer, and chose them earlier, whereas the more aggressive DBD children distinguished themselves in selecting aggressive stimuli earlier. The implications of these findings were discussed and it was concluded that sexuality is clearly an important topic to address in aggressive children in general and not only in the abused ones.

Aggression↗