Serotonergic Function, Behavioral Disinhibition, and Negative Affect in Children of Alcoholics: The Moderating Effects of Puberty

BACKGROUND: Serotonergic (5-HT) dysfunction has been implicated in both behavioral disinhibition and negative affect in adults. Although our group's previous work found decreased whole blood 5-HT in high versus low behavior problem children of alcoholics, some child/adolescent studies report conflicting results, and 5-HT's role in negative affect has been largely unexamined. Age-related developmental factors may play a role in these relationships. METHODS: This report is from an ongoing prospective study of the development of risk for alcohol abuse/dependence and other problematic outcomes in a sample of families subtyped by father's alcoholism classification. The present study extends previous work and examines relationships between whole blood 5-HT and both child behavioral disinhibition (an aggression index from the Child Behavior Checklist) and negative affect (Child Behavior Checklist Anxious/Depressed scale) in offspring from 47 families (N = 45 boys and 17 girls; mean age = 10.88+/-2.03 yr). RESULTS: The most important finding was that puberty moderated relationships between 5-HT and both behavioral disinhibition and negative affect with a relationship for pubescent children (n = 14, r = -0.54, p = 0.05: r = -0.57,p = 0.04, respectively) but no relationship for prepubescent children (n = 48, r = 0.05, p = 0.75; r = -0.15, p = 0.31, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The moderating effects of puberty may help clarify inconsistencies in child/adolescent literature. Furthermore, there appears to be a relationship between 5-HT and negative affect which parallels that between 5-HT and behavioral disinhibition. Pubertal status may be an important variable to evaluate as a moderator in relation to the developmental context of the role 5-HT dysfunction may play in various models of behavior related to alcoholism over the early life course.