COMT Val/Met and Psychopathic Traits in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review and New Evidence of a Developmental Trajectory toward Psychopathy
Open accessAbstract
Psychopathic traits in youth may lead to adult criminal behaviors/psychopathy. The Val158Met polymorphism of catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) may influence the risk for psychopathy-related behaviors, while acting as a biomarker for predicting treatment response to dopaminergic medications. The literature shows inconsistent findings, making the interpretation of COMT’s role difficult. The aims of this article are (i) to conduct a systematic review to analyze the effects of COMT Val158Met on psychopathic traits in children and adolescents, and (ii) to present new evidence on the developmental trajectory of the association of Val158Met and youth psychopathic traits. For the systematic review, a literature search was conducted using PubMed, EMBASE, OVID Medline and PsychINFO with the search terms for psychopathic traits, Val158Met and age of interest. In our genotype study, the COMT Val158Met genotype of 293 youth with European ancestry was analyzed in association with the psychopathy-related behavior scores from the Child Behavior Checklist and the Psychopathy Screening Device. To examine the potential influence of developmental changes, the sample was split into at or above and below age 13, and analyses were performed in males and females separately. The literature search yielded twenty-eight articles to be included in the systematic review, which demonstrated mixed results on the association depending on environmental factors, sex ratios, age groups and behavioral disorder diagnoses. The results from our genotype study revealed that Met homozygous youth in the below age 13 group and conversely Val carrier youth in the above age 13 group were more likely to display psychopathic traits. To our knowledge, this is the first study to systematically review the effects of COMT Val158Met on psychopathic traits in childhood and adolescence, and to provide new evidence on the changing effects of Val158Met on psychopathy-related behaviors with development. Elucidating the role of the COMT genotype in conjunction with the child versus adolescent stage of development for psychopathic traits may help predict treatment response, and may lead to early intervention and prevention strategies.
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Among those younger than 13, Met/Met genotype carriers had increased conduct problems compared to Val-allele carriers (p = 0.03).
“In contrast, among those younger than 13, Met/Met genotype carriers had increased conduct problems compared to Val-allele carriers (p = 0.03).”
From Genetics of child aggression, a systematic review (2024) · cites this paper as [67]
The Results (section 3.3) report increased conduct problems for Met/Met carriers below age 13 (p = 0.03), but specifically among males; the claim omits that restriction. The same section says this association did not survive correction for multiple testing. (LLM, conf=0.90)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThese associations were not observed in females in the sample.
“These associations were not observed in females in their sample.”
From Genetics of child aggression, a systematic review (2024) · cites this paper as [67]
Among European males at least 13 years of age, Val-allele carriers had higher CBCL aggressive scores than non-carriers (p = 0.03).
“For example, Kant and colleagues [67] demonstrated that among European males at least 13 years of age, Val-allele carriers had higher CBCL aggressive scores than non-carriers (p = 0.03).”
From Genetics of child aggression, a systematic review (2024) · cites this paper as [67]
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References 101 · Cited by 16
- Authors
- Kant, T., Koyama, E., Zai, C. C., Beitchman, J. H., & Kennedy, J. L.
- Affiliations
- Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Kant, Tuana
- Kennedy, James L.
- Venue
- International Journal of Molecular Sciences
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2022-02-04
- Volume
- 23
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 1782
- ISSN
- 1422-0067 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC8836546
- OpenAlex
- W4210344664
- Cited by
- 16
- References
- 101
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 1
- FWCI
- 0.58
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- International Journal of Molecular Sciences (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- TSpace (University of Toronto) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CGS-M)
- CAMH Discovery Fund (Post-Doctoral Fellowship)
- Institute of Medical Science (Entrance Award)
- Howitt/Dunbar Foundation (Howitt/Dunbar Foundation)
- Judy and Larry Tanenbaum Family Foundation (Judy and Larry Tanenbaum Family Foundation)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychopathy, Forensic Psychiatry, Sexual Offending
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Schizophrenia research and treatment
- Keywords
- COMT Val158Met polymorphism, catechol-O-methyltransferase, psychopathic traits, developmental trajectories, children and adolescents, dopaminergic therapy, treatment response biomarkers, Child Behavior Checklist, sex differences, early intervention
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Antisocial Personality Disorder, Catechol O-Methyltransferase, Child, Female, Humans, Male, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide
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