The relationship between serum lipids and aggression or impulsiveness in general population

Postgraduate Thesis uoadl:1722879 705 Read counter

Unit:
Κατεύθυνση Διασυνδετική Ψυχιατρική και Απαρτιωμένη Φροντίδα Σωματικής και Ψυχικής Υγείας
Library of the School of Health Sciences
Deposit date:
2017-07-18
Year:
2017
Author:
Kavourgia Evgenia
Theodorakopoulou Angeliki
Supervisors info:
Χριστοδούλου Χρήστος, Αναπληρωτής Καθηγητής Ψυχιατρικής, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Γουρνέλλης Ρωσσέτος, Αναπληρωτής Καθηγητής Ψυχιατρικής, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Παπαδοπούλου Αθανασία, Επιμελήτρια Α' Πανεπιστημιακής Ψυχιατρικής Κλινικής ΕΚΠΑ, Πανεπιστημιακό ΓΝ "Αττικόν"
Original Title:
Μελέτη των λιπιδίων του αίματος σε σχέση με τα χαρακτηριστικά της επιθετικότητας και της παρορμητικότητας, σε δείγμα γενικού πληθυσμού
Languages:
Greek
Translated title:
The relationship between serum lipids and aggression or impulsiveness in general population
Summary:
During the last decades great interest lies on revealing the possible relations between biological markers, measured in blood, and psychological factors. Nevertheless, the findings are not clear as some studies support correlation amongst these values, whereas others do not.
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this research is to assess the relationship between the plasma lipids and aggression or impulsiveness.
METHOD: To address this issue, Buss and Perry Aggression Questionnaire and the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale were used in order to study the relation of plasma lipids and aggression or impulsiveness respectively. The study was conducted in general population. A sample of ninety-six (96) subjects (34 men), aged from twenty to seventy years, comprised the survey. Plasma lipids (total cholesterol, LDL, HDL, triglycerides) and fasting plasma glucose were measured. The demographic factors that were recorded and studied included gender, age, education level, marital status, body mass index, health problems and relevant medications, as well as smoking and alcohol consumption.
RESULTS: This study showed statistically significant negative correlation between plasma triglycerides and anger, meaning that those who express higher values of anger tend to have lower values of triglycerides and vice-versa. No relation was found among other plasma lipids and anger.
A negative linear correlation of HDL cholesterol and physical aggression was revealed, which leads to the conclusion that the expression of physical aggression correlates with lower values of HDL and vice-versa. This finding does not apply to other groups of lipids. Furthermore, it was found that total cholesterol is related to perseverance, which indicates that individuals who exhibit more perseverance have higher values of total cholesterol and vice-versa. This research showed that this does not stand for the cholesterol fractions or the triglycerides. Regarding the entirety of the sample, as well as for men and women separately, no relation was found between plasma lipids in total and aggression or impulsiveness.
It is known that BMI is connected with motor impulsiveness; in this research it was shown that those with higher BMI express greater motor impulsiveness and vice-versa, even though BMI was not connected with aggression or impulsiveness in total.
The age factor was found to have a significant negative correlation to aggression, verbal aggression, anger and hostility, since it was revealed that the younger the individual is the more aggressive he/she tends to be. Important differences were found among men and women concerning aggression. Moreover, no correlation was found between age and impulsiveness, although in women cognitive instability was found to associate with age, namely elder women presented greater cognitive instability.
Finally, the use of smoke or alcohol (non-harmful use) did not affect the expression of aggression or impulsiveness.
CONCLUSIONS: According to the results of this research some lipids are related to specific aspects of aggression. These results support the view that low plasma levels of some lipids are possibly related to greater aggression and impulsiveness. In spite of the known connection between cholesterol and central serotonin function, the underlying neurobiological mechanisms are still to be clarified. The evidence for relation between biological markers and psychological factors as well as the conditions affecting this relation require further development.
Main subject category:
Mental disorders
Keywords:
Lipids, Cholesterol, Triglycerides, HDL, LDL, Aggression, Impulsiveness, Anger, Physical aggression, Perseverance, Cognitive instability, Buss and Perry, BIS, BMI
Index:
No
Number of index pages:
0
Contains images:
No
Number of references:
212
Number of pages:
98
File:
File access is restricted only to the intranet of UoA.

Μελέτη των λιπιδίων του αίματος σε σχέση με τα χαρακτηριστικά της επιθετικότητας και της παρορμητικότητας, σε δείγμα γενικού πληθυσμού.pdf
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File access is restricted only to the intranet of UoA.