COMT Val/Met and Psychopathic Traits in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review and New Evidence of a Developmental Trajectory toward Psychopathy.

Tuana Kant,James L Kennedy,Clement C Zai,Joseph H Beitchman,Emiko Koyama

doi:10.3390/ijms23031782

Abstract

Psychopathic traits in youth may lead to adult criminal behaviors/psychopathy. The Val158Met polymorphism of catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) may influence the risk for psychopathy-related behaviors, while acting as a biomarker for predicting treatment response to dopaminergic medications. The literature shows inconsistent findings, making the interpretation of COMT’s role difficult. The aims of this article are (i) to conduct a systematic review to analyze the effects of COMT Val158Met on psychopathic traits in children and adolescents, and (ii) to present new evidence on the developmental trajectory of the association of Val158Met and youth psychopathic traits. For the systematic review, a literature search was conducted using PubMed, EMBASE, OVID Medline and PsychINFO with the search terms for psychopathic traits, Val158Met and age of interest. In our genotype study, the COMT Val158Met genotype of 293 youth with European ancestry was analyzed in association with the psychopathy-related behavior scores from the Child Behavior Checklist and the Psychopathy Screening Device. To examine the potential influence of developmental changes, the sample was split into at or above and below age 13, and analyses were performed in males and females separately. The literature search yielded twenty-eight articles to be included in the systematic review, which demonstrated mixed results on the association depending on environmental factors, sex ratios, age groups and behavioral disorder diagnoses. The results from our genotype study revealed that Met homozygous youth in the below age 13 group and conversely Val carrier youth in the above age 13 group were more likely to display psychopathic traits. To our knowledge, this is the first study to systematically review the effects of COMT Val158Met on psychopathic traits in childhood and adolescence, and to provide new evidence on the changing effects of Val158Met on psychopathy-related behaviors with development. Elucidating the role of the COMT genotype in conjunction with the child versus adolescent stage of development for psychopathic traits may help predict treatment response, and may lead to early intervention and prevention strategies.

Highlights

Psychopathy is a neurocognitive personality disorder that involves emotional, interpersonal and behavioral symptoms such as lack of empathy, reduced guilt, increased 4.0/).criminal and violent activity, increased narcissistic tendencies and increased antisociality [1,2]
This article provides the first systematic review analyzing the role of COMT in childhood and adolescent psychopathic traits and the first empirical evidence that the effects of Val158Met on psychopathy-related behaviors may change through development
With inconsistent results in the literature, this review provides clearer information on the effects of Val158Met on endophenotypes of psychopathy, while emphasizing the importance of recognizing environmental and biological factors that may influence this association

Summary

Introduction

Psychopathy is a neurocognitive personality disorder that involves emotional, interpersonal and behavioral symptoms such as lack of empathy, reduced guilt, increased 4.0/).criminal and violent activity, increased narcissistic tendencies and increased antisociality [1,2]. Psychopathy is a neurocognitive personality disorder that involves emotional, interpersonal and behavioral symptoms such as lack of empathy, reduced guilt, increased 4.0/). Adults with psychopathy tend to exhibit increased aggressive behaviors when compared to the rest of the population, and increased proactive and purposeful aggression when compared to adults with other behavioral disorders. With severe impulsive and externalizing behaviors, psychopathy can have a range of symptoms across individuals. While there is extensive research for neurobiology, genetics and environmental factors underlying psychopathy, results are inconclusive [2]. The developmental trajectory of psychopathy and its phenotypic expression can be influenced by different factors including genetic predispositions, neural connectivity and environmental factors [6]. Most would agree that in order to understand the underlying mechanisms of psychopathy in adults, it is crucial to understand the development of the disorder from early life

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