Citation

Gorodetsky E, Carli V, Sarchiapone M, Roy A, Goldman D, Enoch MA. Genes Brain Behav. 2016; 15(5): 465-473.

Affiliation

Laboratory of Neurogenetics, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIH, Rockville, MD, 20852, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/gbb.12293

PMID

27062586

Abstract

Suicidal behavior and self-mutilation can be regarded as the expression of self-directed aggression and both are common in prison populations. We investigated the influence of externalizing behaviors, depressive symptoms, childhood trauma, 5-HTTLPR variants on self-directed aggression (N = 145) in a group of 702 male Italian prisoners. Participants were comprehensively evaluated, including for psychiatric disorders, impulsive traits, lifetime aggressive behavior (BGHA), hostility, violent behavior during incarceration, depressive symptomatology (HDRS), childhood trauma (CTQ). Logistic regression analysis revealed FDR corrected independent main effects of externalizing behaviors: BGHA (p = 0.001), violent behavior in jail (p = 0.007), extraversion (p = 0.015); HDRS (p = 0.0004), Axis I disorders (p = 0.015), CTQ (p = 0.004) and 5-HTTLPR genotype (p = 0.02). Carriers of 5-HTTLPR high (LA LA ), intermediate (LA LG , SLA ) activity variants were more likely to have exhibited self-directed aggression relative to the low activity (LG LG , SLG , SS) variant: High/Low: OR = 2.3, 95% CI 1.27-4.68, p = 0.007; Intermediate/Low: OR = 1.96, 95% CI 1.09-3.68, p = 0.025. The CTQ main effect was driven by physical abuse. There was no interactive effect of 5-HTTLPR and CTQ. Secondary logistic regression analyses in (a) all suicide attempters (N = 88) and (b) all self-mutilators (N = 104), compared with controls revealed that in both groups, childhood trauma (p = 0.008-0.01), depression (p = 0.0004-0.001) were strong predictors. BGHA, violent behavior in jail predicted self-mutilation (p = 0.002) but not suicide attempts (p =0.1). This study was able to distinguish differing influences on self-directed aggression between groups of closely related predictor variables within the externalizing behavioral domain. 5-HTTLPR had an independent, variant dosage effect.

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Language: en