ArticleAggression and violent behavior
Omega-3 supplementation reduces aggressive behavior: A meta-analytic review of randomized controlled trials.
Article in Aggression and violent behavior. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Research Review: Omega-3 supplementation to reduce antisocial behavior - a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2026Pooled it
- Effects of docosahexaenoic acid supplementation on aggressive behavior among people with dementia: Secondary data analysis of a randomized clinical trial.Alzheimer disease and associated disordersTrial
- Low 5HTJournal of neurochemistry · 2026Review
- There's (no) accounting for taste: identifying and predicting subgroups of incarcerated persons based on perceived food sufficiency and personal and lifestyle characteristics.Health & justice · 2026Article
- The gut is guilty! Will legalomics transform forensic and legal psychology?Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Challenging the prescientific frameworks of criminal justice: neurobiology and criminolytic interventions in the legalome era.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Review
- The Efficacy of Nutritional Interventions in Reducing Childhood/Youth Aggressive and Antisocial Behavior: A Mixed-Methods Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Campbell systematic reviews · 2025Review
- The Big Minority View: Do Prescientific Beliefs Underpin Criminal Justice Cruelty, and Is the Public Health Quarantine Model a Remedy?International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Supporting Neurologic Health with Mushroom Nutrition.Nutrients · 2025Review
- Persistent Aggressive Behaviour From Childhood to Adolescence: The Influence of Environmental Tobacco Exposure and the Protective Role of Fish Consumption.Criminal behaviour and mental health : CBMH · 2025Article
- The Intersection of Ultra-Processed Foods, Neuropsychiatric Disorders, and Neurolaw: Implications for Criminal Justice.NeuroSci · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
There is increasing interest in the use of omega-3 supplements to reduce aggressive behavior. This meta-analysis summarizes findings from 28 RCTs (randomized controlled trials) on omega-3 supplementation to reduce aggression, yielding 35 independent samples with a total of 3,918 participants. Three analyses were conducted where the unit of analysis was independent samples, independent studies, and independent laboratories. Significant effect sizes were observed for all three analyses (g = .16, .20, .28 respectively), averaging .22, in the direction of omega-3 supplementation reducing aggression. There was no evidence of publication bias, and sensitivity analyses confirmed findings. Moderator analyses were largely non-significant, indicating that beneficial effects are obtained across age, gender, recruitment sample, diagnoses, treatment duration, and dosage. Omega-3 also reduced both reactive and proactive forms of aggression, particularly with respect to self-reports (g = .27 and .20 respectively). It is concluded that there is now sufficient evidence to begin to implement omega-3 supplementation to reduce aggression in children and adults - irrespective of whether the setting is the community, the clinic, or the criminal justice system.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.