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Updated: Aug 6, 2026

The Resident-intruder Paradigm: A Standardized Test for Aggression, Violence and Social Stress
Published on: July 4, 2013
Association of monoamine system parameters with violent criminal behavior
Danil Peregud1,2, Timur Gadisov3, Olga Pavlova1
1Department of Fundamental and Applied Neurobiology, Federal State Budgetary Institution 'V. Serbsky National Medical Research Centre for Psychiatry and Narcology' of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia.
Objectives:
The aim of this study was to assess the associations of psychometric, biochemical, and genetic parameters of the serotonin and dopamine systems with violent criminal behavior.
Methods:
Male participants who had no criminal records (n=110) and those who had committed interpersonal violent crimes (n=143) were included in the study. Aggression levels were estimated by means of the Buss-Perry questionnaire (BPAQ-24). The Structure of Temperament Questionnaire-Compact (STQ-77), potentially linked to monoamine neurotransmitter activity, was administered to profile temperament traits. Concentrations of monoamine metabolites 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) and homovanillic acid (HVA) were estimated in urine samples. The HTR2A rs6313 and DRD4 rs1800955 polymorphisms were genotyped by real-time PCR.
Results:
Offenders demonstrated higher levels of aggression, and decreased concentrations of 5-HIAA and HVA as compared with controls. According to the final model of multivariate binary logistic regression, total BPAQ scores (B = 0.047; p < 0.001), HVA concentrations (B = -0.004; p < 0.001), and the STQ-77 Empathy (EMP) scale (B = 0.225; p = 0.004) were the independent markers discriminating violent criminal behavior with an overall classification accuracy of 86.1%.
Conclusion:
Thus, the complex interplay between heightened aggression, reduced HVA levels, and specific temperament traits constitutes a neurobehavioral signature of violent criminal behavior.
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