Plasma serotonin levels in young violent offenders: Aggressive responding and personality correlates

70 young male violent offenders and 30 normal controls in Hunan, China were interviewed and assessed by the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), Point Subtraction Aggression Paradigm (PSAP) and plasma serotonin (5-HT) level. Compared to the normal controls, the violent offenders had significantly higher plasma 5-HT levels; higher scores on the MMPI subscale Pd (P < 0.01), Pa (P < 0.05); and higher PSAP-B responding and lower PSAP-C responding (P < 0.05). There was a positive correlation between the MMPI Pd score and the PSAP B response, but no significant correlation was found between Pd score and plasma 5-HT level, or between PSAP B response and plasma 5-HT level. Our data suggest that the young violent offenders are more aggressive than the normal control. But this study did not demonstrate that the plasma 5-HT level had a correlation with the PSAP aggressive response. The relationship between the aggressiveness and impulsivity in the violent behavior needs further study.