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A Modified Trier Social Stress Test for Vulnerable Mexican American Adolescents
Published on: July 10, 2017
Low basal salivary cortisol is associated with teacher-reported symptoms of conduct disorder
Jaap Oosterlaan1, Hilde M Geurts, Dirk L Knol
1Department of Clinical Neuropsychology, Faculty of Psychology and Pedagogy, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Van der Boechorststraat 1, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands. j.oosterlaan@psy.vu.nl
Abstract:
Cortisol has been implicated in psychobiological explanations of antisocial behavior. This study measured basal salivary cortisol in a sample of 25 children (age range 6 to 12 years) selected to vary in levels of antisocial behavior. Regression analyses were used to predict cortisol concentrations from parent- and teacher-reported symptoms. Parent-reported symptoms did not predict basal cortisol. Teacher-reported conduct disorder (CD) symptoms explained 38% of the variance in the cortisol concentrations, with high symptom severity associated with low cortisol. When a distinction was made between aggressive and non-aggressive CD symptoms, aggressive CD symptoms were more clearly related to low cortisol than non-aggressive CD symptoms. In contrast to previous research, no evidence was found for a mediating role of anxiety symptoms in the relationship between CD and cortisol. The results support biologically based models of antisocial behavior in children that involve reduced autonomic activity.
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