Neuropsychological Characterization of Aggressive Behavior in Children and Adolescents with CD/ODD and Effects of Single Doses of Medications: The Protocol of the Matrics_WP6-1 Study

TY - JOUR

T1 - Neuropsychological Characterization of Aggressive Behavior in Children and Adolescents with CD/ODD and Effects of Single Doses of Medications

T2 - The Protocol of the Matrics_WP6-1 Study

AU - Balia, Carla

AU - Carucci, Sara

AU - Milone, Annarita

AU - Romaniello, Roberta

AU - Valente, Elena

AU - Donno, Federica

AU - Montesanto, Annarita

AU - Brovedani, Paola

AU - Masi, Gabriele

AU - Glennon, Jeffrey C.

AU - Coghill, David

AU - Zuddas, Alessandro

N1 - Funding: This research was funded by the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013) under grant agreement number 603016

PY - 2021/12/11

Y1 - 2021/12/11

N2 - Aggressive behaviors and disruptive/conduct disorders are some of the commonest reasons for referral to youth mental health services; nevertheless, the efficacy of therapeutic interventions in real-world clinical practice remains unclear. In order to define more appropriate targets for innovative pharmacological therapies for disruptive/conduct disorders, the European Commission within the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) funded the MATRICS project (Multidisciplinary Approaches to Translational Research in Conduct Syndromes) to identify neural, genetic, and molecular factors underpinning the pathogenesis of aggression/antisocial behavior in preclinical models and clinical samples. Within the program, a multicentre case-control study, followed by a single-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over, randomized acute single-dose medication challenge, was conducted at two Italian sites. Aggressive children and adolescents with conduct disorder (CD) or oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) were compared to the same age (10-17 y) typically developing controls (TDC) on a neuropsychological tasks battery that included both "cold" (e.g., inhibitory control, decision making) and "hot" executive functions (e.g., moral judgment, emotion processing, risk assessment). Selected autonomic measures (heart rate variability, skin conductance, salivary cortisol) were recorded before/during/after neuropsychological testing sessions. The acute response to different drugs (methylphenidate/atomoxetine, risperidone/aripiprazole, or placebo) was also examined in the ODD/CD cohort in order to identify potential neuropsychological/physiological mechanisms underlying aggression. The paper describes the protocol of the clinical MATRICS WP6-1 study, its rationale, the specific outcome measures, and their implications for a precision medicine approach.

AB - Aggressive behaviors and disruptive/conduct disorders are some of the commonest reasons for referral to youth mental health services; nevertheless, the efficacy of therapeutic interventions in real-world clinical practice remains unclear. In order to define more appropriate targets for innovative pharmacological therapies for disruptive/conduct disorders, the European Commission within the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) funded the MATRICS project (Multidisciplinary Approaches to Translational Research in Conduct Syndromes) to identify neural, genetic, and molecular factors underpinning the pathogenesis of aggression/antisocial behavior in preclinical models and clinical samples. Within the program, a multicentre case-control study, followed by a single-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over, randomized acute single-dose medication challenge, was conducted at two Italian sites. Aggressive children and adolescents with conduct disorder (CD) or oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) were compared to the same age (10-17 y) typically developing controls (TDC) on a neuropsychological tasks battery that included both "cold" (e.g., inhibitory control, decision making) and "hot" executive functions (e.g., moral judgment, emotion processing, risk assessment). Selected autonomic measures (heart rate variability, skin conductance, salivary cortisol) were recorded before/during/after neuropsychological testing sessions. The acute response to different drugs (methylphenidate/atomoxetine, risperidone/aripiprazole, or placebo) was also examined in the ODD/CD cohort in order to identify potential neuropsychological/physiological mechanisms underlying aggression. The paper describes the protocol of the clinical MATRICS WP6-1 study, its rationale, the specific outcome measures, and their implications for a precision medicine approach.

KW - aggression

KW - conduct disorder

KW - oppositional defiant disorder

KW - medications for aggression

KW - callous-unemotional traits

KW - D2 receptor modulators

KW - ADHD medications

KW - neuropsychological functioning

KW - autonomic functioning

KW - control design

KW - acute placebo-controlled single-blind challenge clinical trial

U2 - 10.3390/brainsci11121639

DO - 10.3390/brainsci11121639

M3 - Article

C2 - 34942941

SN - 2076-3425

VL - 11

JO - Brain sciences

JF - Brain sciences

IS - 12

M1 - 1639

ER -