Anka Bernhard, Katharina Ackermann, Anne Martinelli, Andreas G Chiocchetti, Leonora Vllasaliu, Karen González-Madruga, Molly Batchelor, Nora M Raschle, Helena Oldenhof, Lucres M C Jansen, Gregor Kohls, Kerstin Konrad, Arne Popma, Christina Stadler, Graeme Fairchild, Christine M Freitag
OBJECTIVE: Conduct disorder (CD) involves aggressive and antisocial behavior and is associated with blunted cortisol stress response in male youths. Far less is known about cortisol stress responsivity in female youths with CD or other neuroendocrine responses in both sexes. Although CD is linked to early adversity, the possibility that neuroendocrine alterations may mediate the relationship between early adversity and CD has not been systematically investigated. METHOD: Within the European FemNAT-CD multi-site study, salivary cortisol, testosterone, the testosterone/cortisol ratio, oxytocin, and psychological stress response to a standardized psychosocial stress test (the Trier Social Stress Test [TSST]), together with common pre- and postnatal environmental risk factors, were investigated in 130 pubertal youths with CD (63% female, 9-18 years of age) and 160 sex-, age-, and puberty-matched healthy controls (HCs)...
May 2022: Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry