Parental Attitude in Women with Hyperprolactinemia: a Controlled Cross-Sectional Study

Objective: Prolactin hormone affects the brain, attitude and mood. Secretion of prolactin may be stimulated by environmental factors. The aim of this study was to demonstrate any possible effect of poor child-parent relationship on hyperprolactinemia. We hypothesize that women with hyperprolactinemia may have been subjected to poor child-parent relationship and neglect. Method: The present study was designed in a maternity hospital and included women with gynecologic complaints referred from the gynaecology outpatient clinic for serum prolactin assessments. An 85-item, self-rated EMBU Scale questionnaire (a scale for perceived parental attitude) was applied. Fifty women were enrolled over a period of 5 months. Results: Women with hyperprolactinemia (prolactin levels above 26 ng/ml) constituted the patient group (Group 1) (n=34) and those with normal serum prolactin levels (below 26 ng/ml) served as the controls (Group 2) (n=16). The mean +/- SD levels of prolactin for group 1 and 2 were 57.25 +/- 38.7 ng/ml and 18.81 +/- 4.4 ng/ml, respectively. Group 1 patients believe that their parents did not show enough emotional warmth and had rejective behavior. Emotional warmth parameters of patients' mothers and fathers were significantly lower (p=0.002 and p=0.01, respectively) than those of the control group. We also found that the patients believed that their mothers and fathers both had rejective behaviors (p=0.008 and p=0.009, respectively). Conclusion: Prolactin secretion is regulated by the dopaminergic system and since dopamine is responsible of pleasure and satisfaction sensations, the negative affection of both mothers and fathers in childhood may play a role in the etiology of chronic low-grade hyperprolactinemia in women.