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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Antisocial behavior may have a biological link. New research suggests reduced levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, may cause antisocial behavior in male adolescents.
In healthy patients, cortisol levels usually increase during stressful situations, such as public speaking, taking an exam or having surgery. The hormone is thought to make people behave more cautiously and help regulate emotions -- especially temper and violent impulses.
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However, during a recent study, researchers saw male adolescents with severe antisocial behavior did not exhibit the same changes in cortisol levels during stress. Study authors say these results show antisocial behavior may be more biologically-based than previously thought. Whats more, antisocial behavior could be seen as a form of mental illness due to physiological imbalances of cortisol in the brain and body.
If we can figure out precisely what underlies the inability to show a normal stress response, we may be able to design new treatments for severe behavior problems, study leader Graeme Fairchild, Ph.D., psychiatrist from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, was quoted as saying. We may also be able create targeted interventions for those at higher risk.
SOURCE: The University of Cambridge, 2008
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