BIOCHEMISTRY AND AGGRESSION: PSYCHOHEMATOLOGICAL MODEL

The present study examined biochemical measures in a population of forensic psychiatric inpatients. Regression equations were developed and evaluated to determine their value in predicting the severity and frequency of aggression. Variables found useful in the prediction equation were albumin, calcium, chloride, hemoglobin, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, mean corpuscular volume, red blood cell count, and thyroxine. Subsequent tests of the predictive accuracy of the regression equations indicated that 95% of the severity and 90% of the subjects' frequency scores were correctly predicted (n = 21). A second independent test correctly predicted 89% of the severity scores and 80% ol' the frequency scores (n = 71). Chi-square analysis in both studies reached significance (p c .001). The current findings strongly suggest the resence of specific biochemical alteration among those forensic mtients manifesting chronically aggressive behavior patterns. A physiological model is proposed to account for these findings.