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Testosterone levels drop with fatherhood
Gettler LT. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011;108:16194-16199.
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Results of a new study suggest that testosterone levels fall after men become fathers.
Researchers conducted a large study of 624 men in the Philippines. During about 4.5 years of follow-up, some men got married or entered long-term relationships and became fathers, while others stayed single.
Data show that among single, non-fathers at baseline, who were a mean age of 21.5 years, those with high waking testosterone levels were more likely to become partnered fathers 4 years later (P<.05). Compared with single, non-fathers, men who became partnered fathers experienced large, significant declines in waking testosterone (median, –26%) and evening testosterone (median, –34%; P<.001). Further, fathers who reported 3 or more hours of daily childcare had lower testosterone levels at follow-up vs. fathers who reported no childcare (P<.05). This finding was “consistent with the hypothesis that child interaction suppresses testosterone,” according to the researchers.
“Our findings suggest that testosterone mediates tradeoffs between mating and parenting in humans, as seen in other species in which fathers care for young. They also highlight one likely explanation for previously observed health disparities between partnered fathers and single men,” the researchers wrote.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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