The Androgen Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate Shows a Greater Relationship with Impulsivity than Testosterone in a Healthy Male Sample

Abstract

This study was designed to examine the relationships among the impulsivity construct as a personality trait, the dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S), and testosterone in a sample of 120 healthy middle-aged males (Mage = 44.39; SD = 12.88). The sum of the three BIS-11 scales, the SR, and the five UPPS-P scales correlated with DHEA-S 0.23 (p p p p p p p p p p 2 = 0.28), and Positive Urgency for testosterone (R2 = 0.09). Non-parametric LOESS graphical analyses for local regression allowed us to visualize the non-linear relationships between the impulsivity scales with the two androgens, including non-significant trends. We discuss the implications of these results for impulsive biological personality traits, the limitations of our analyses, and the possible development of future research.

Keywords

• impulsivity personality trait
• dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S)
• testosterone
• BIS-11
• UPPS-P