Hormonal Differences in Intimate Partner Violence Perpetrators When They Cope with Acute Stress: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Background: Only a few studies have paid attention to the ability of perpetrators of intimate partner violence (IPVAW) against women to cope with acute stress, including hormonal parameters. In fact, previous studies assessed how salivary testosterone (Tsal) and cortisol (Csal) changed after coping with an acute emotional stressor (directly related to IPVAW), and they concluded that an imbalance between the two hormones might be characteristic of these men. Nevertheless, they neglected to examine the role of other hormones, such as salivary oxytocin (OXsal), which also seemed to play an important role in behavioral regulation, and whether this response could be generalized to other types of stress not directly related to IPVAW. Methods: This study aims to assess whether IPVAW perpetrators (n = 19) present differential hormonal (Tsal, Csal, OXsal and their ratios) and psychological state (anxiety, anger, and general affect) responses when coping with an acute cognitive laboratory stressor (a set of neuropsychological tests performed in front of an expert committee) in comparison with non-violent men (n = 16). This quasi-experimental study also assessed whether the psychological state variables drive this different hormonal response. Results: Our results revealed that IPVAW perpetrators had lower Csal and higher Tsal/Csal ratio levels during the post-task period, as well as higher total levels (average) of OXsal than controls. We also found that, only in IPVAW perpetrators, high levels of baseline anxiety and negative affect were related to high rises in Csal during the stress task. Conclusions: These data present a background showing that IPVAW perpetrators and non-violent men cope differently with stress. These findings might help to identify idiosyncratic profiles of IPVAW perpetrators that can then be employed to establish their therapeutic needs. Moreover, we reinforced the importance of combining biological markers with self-reports, thus increasing the reliability of these forensic assessments.

Hormonal Profile in Response to an Empathic Induction Task in Perpetrators of Intimate Partner Violence: Oxytocin/Testosterone Ratio and Social Cognition

“…In terms of sT, both groups did not differ in their levels of sT change after the task. This was in line with a previous study, which also failed to report sT changes in IPV perpetrators to an acute laboratory cognitive stressor [30]. However, these results contrast with the decrease in sT levels found by Procyshyn et al [25] after an empathic induction task.…”

“…Furthermore, higher sT/C ratios have been associated with aggression rates within heterosexual couples [39]. In fact, it seems that IPV perpetrators tend to present higher sT/C ratios than controls in response to acute laboratory stressors [20,30]. These results are consistent with the dual hormone hypothesis, which suggests that T is positively associated with aggression and negatively with empathy, particularly in individuals with low C levels [40].…”

“…Another study found that intranasal administration of OXT increased IPV inclinations toward partners in violence-prone individuals [61]. Indeed, despite observing no change in sOXT levels in response to an acute cognitive stress task in either the IPV or the control group, Romero-Martinez et al [30] found that total sOXT levels were higher in IPV perpetrators. These results suggest that we cannot conclude that IPV perpetrators can be characterized by a generalized, diminished OXT functioning.…”

“…Changes in oxytocin (OXT), testosterone (T) and cortisol (C) endogenous levels could affect functions important for empathy, including socioaffective information processing, social affiliation, or stress management [27][28][29][30]. Accordingly, increases in endogenous OXT levels, both in plasma (pOXT) and saliva (sOXT), have been observed in a normative population following an empathic induction task performed through watching an emotion-provoking video [24,25].…”

“…Regarding IPV, there is a gap in the scientific literature for assessing whether emotion induction tasks modified the C response in IPV perpetrators. In fact, only two studies have assessed their response to acute laboratory stressors [20,30]. In this sense, they concluded that IPV perpetrators showed a lower sC response than controls after being submitted to an acute laboratory stressor, failing to find significant associations between empathic variables and sC levels in them [20].…”