Postpartum Hostility and Prolactin

Abstract

In a previous study ten women with hyperprolactinemia and amenorrhea had significantly higher Symptom Questionnaire scores for depression, hostility and anxiety than patients with amenorrhea only and a matched nonpatient employees group. The hyperprolactinemic patients and employees were compared with ten women on their seventh day after childbirth who had been matched for sociodemographic variables and had similar prolactin levels. Hostility was significantly higher in postpartum patients than employees and did not differ significantly from that of women with hyperprolactinemic amenorrhea. Postpartum hyperprolactinemic women did not differ significantly from the employees for anxiety and depression, which was significantly lower than in the amenorrheic patients. In several mammals aggression occurs concurrently with lactation. The studies in humans suggest an association of high prolactin levels with hostility.

Prolactin and aggression in women with fertility problems

“…Some previous research has found that higher prolactin is related to more hostility (Fava et al 1981; Mastrogiacomo et al 1982; Fava et al 1988; Kellner et al 1984; Reavley et al 1997; Csemiczky et al 2000) and the results of the present study seemingly do not support the findings of previous research. In fact, the findings for anger, aggression and hostility tend to go in the opposite direction of that predicted.…”

“…However, rather than contradicting previous research, the present study is perhaps extending our knowledge of this topic by describing the relationship between prolactin levels within the normal range and anger. Placing side-by-side the evidence from the present study and previous studies (Fava et al 1981; Mastrogiacomo et al 1982; Kellner et al 1984; Fava et al 1988; Csemiczky et al 2000), it appears possible that the relationship between prolactin and hostility may possibly be a weak linear/positive quadratic (J-shaped) correlation. A non-linear relationship between prolactin and psychological factors is plausible, and has been found previously in women (Henry and Sherwin 2012), although not in relation to anger or aggression.…”

“…First, four previous studies assessed hostility using the Kellner Symptom Questionnaire (KSQ) (Fava et al 1981; Mastrogiacomo et al 1982; Kellner et al 1984; Fava et al 1988). It is possible that this measure may be particularly sensitive to the relationship between prolactin and hostility, but this possibility is not particularly strong, given that the items in the KSQ do not seem very different than items in other hostility questionnaires.…”

“…Seminal studies on prolactin and hostility in human participants found that women with higher prolactin levels were more hostile than women with normal levels of prolactin (Fava et al 1981; Mastrogiacomo et al 1982; Kellner et al 1984; Fava et al 1988). More recently, a study found moderately more hostility in hyperprolactinaemic women than female control patients with normal prolactin levels (Reavley et al 1997).…”

Emotional Aspects of Hyperprolactinemia

“…Similar findings were reported in another study [6] in pups than postpubertal ones and have slightly elevated prolactin levels during this period of heightened sensi-which women with pathological hyperprolactinemia scored higher for depression and anxiety than puerperal tivity) significantly prolongs the latency to maternal behavior. Again, administration of prolactin reverses the controls.…”