Vitamin D sufficiency attenuates the effect of early social adversity on child antisocial behavior
Background: Vitamin D insufficiency and child antisocial behavior are public health concerns. It is unknown whether vitamin D plays a role in antisocial outcomes. This study examines whether higher levels of vitamin D can act as a protective factor against antisocial behavior for children who are ex...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2022
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/159580 |
| _version_ | 1826128770183987200 |
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| author | Choy, Olivia Raine, Adrian |
| author2 | School of Social Sciences |
| author_facet | School of Social Sciences Choy, Olivia Raine, Adrian |
| author_sort | Choy, Olivia |
| collection | NTU |
| description | Background: Vitamin D insufficiency and child antisocial behavior are public health concerns. It is unknown whether vitamin D plays a role in antisocial outcomes. This study examines whether higher levels of vitamin D can act as a protective factor against antisocial behavior for children who are exposed to early social adversity.
Methods: In a community sample of 300 children aged 11–12 years (151 females, 149 males), serum concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] were assessed alongside early social adversity, and both parent and child-reported antisocial behavior.
Results: Vitamin D moderated the association between early social adversity and multiple antisocial outcomes. Higher social adversity was associated with greater antisocial behavior among vitamin D-insufficient [25(OH)D < 30 ng/mL], but not vitamin D-sufficient children [25(OH)D ⩾ 30 ng/mL], after adjusting for other variables. Results from child reports of antisocial behavior were replicated with parent reports, providing support for the robustness of the findings. At serum 25(OH)D concentrations above 27.16–30.69 ng/mL (close to 30 ng/ mL, the recommended optimal vitamin D level for pediatric populations), the effect of social adversity on antisocial behavior outcomes was nullified.
Conclusions: To our knowledge, this study is the first to document that a nutritional factor, vitamin D, can potentially confer resilience to antisocial behavior. Our findings in a pediatric population suggest a possible role of vitamin D supplementation in interventions to reduce antisocial behavior, which may be further investigated in future randomized controlled trials. |
| first_indexed | 2024-10-01T07:30:00Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | ntu-10356/159580 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-10-01T07:30:00Z |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/1595802022-06-28T00:57:33Z Vitamin D sufficiency attenuates the effect of early social adversity on child antisocial behavior Choy, Olivia Raine, Adrian School of Social Sciences Social sciences::Psychology Aggression Antisocial Behavior Background: Vitamin D insufficiency and child antisocial behavior are public health concerns. It is unknown whether vitamin D plays a role in antisocial outcomes. This study examines whether higher levels of vitamin D can act as a protective factor against antisocial behavior for children who are exposed to early social adversity. Methods: In a community sample of 300 children aged 11–12 years (151 females, 149 males), serum concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] were assessed alongside early social adversity, and both parent and child-reported antisocial behavior. Results: Vitamin D moderated the association between early social adversity and multiple antisocial outcomes. Higher social adversity was associated with greater antisocial behavior among vitamin D-insufficient [25(OH)D < 30 ng/mL], but not vitamin D-sufficient children [25(OH)D ⩾ 30 ng/mL], after adjusting for other variables. Results from child reports of antisocial behavior were replicated with parent reports, providing support for the robustness of the findings. At serum 25(OH)D concentrations above 27.16–30.69 ng/mL (close to 30 ng/ mL, the recommended optimal vitamin D level for pediatric populations), the effect of social adversity on antisocial behavior outcomes was nullified. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this study is the first to document that a nutritional factor, vitamin D, can potentially confer resilience to antisocial behavior. Our findings in a pediatric population suggest a possible role of vitamin D supplementation in interventions to reduce antisocial behavior, which may be further investigated in future randomized controlled trials. This project was funded, in part, under a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Health (SAP# 4100043366) and the Clinical and Translational Research Center, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania (grant number UL1-RR-024134). 2022-06-28T00:57:33Z 2022-06-28T00:57:33Z 2021 Journal Article Choy, O. & Raine, A. (2021). Vitamin D sufficiency attenuates the effect of early social adversity on child antisocial behavior. Psychological Medicine, 1-10. https://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0033291721001069 0033-2917 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/159580 10.1017/S0033291721001069 33762031 2-s2.0-85103206855 1 10 en Psychological Medicine © 2021 The Authors. All rights reserved. |
| spellingShingle | Social sciences::Psychology Aggression Antisocial Behavior Choy, Olivia Raine, Adrian Vitamin D sufficiency attenuates the effect of early social adversity on child antisocial behavior |
| title | Vitamin D sufficiency attenuates the effect of early social adversity on child antisocial behavior |
| title_full | Vitamin D sufficiency attenuates the effect of early social adversity on child antisocial behavior |
| title_fullStr | Vitamin D sufficiency attenuates the effect of early social adversity on child antisocial behavior |
| title_full_unstemmed | Vitamin D sufficiency attenuates the effect of early social adversity on child antisocial behavior |
| title_short | Vitamin D sufficiency attenuates the effect of early social adversity on child antisocial behavior |
| title_sort | vitamin d sufficiency attenuates the effect of early social adversity on child antisocial behavior |
| topic | Social sciences::Psychology Aggression Antisocial Behavior |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/159580 |
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