Androgen effects on women's gendered behaviour

Prenatal effects of maternal smoking on daughters' smoking: nicotine or testosterone exposure?

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this study was to specify the effect of prenatal fetal exposure to maternal cotinine and testosterone on daughters' smoking in adolescence and adulthood.

METHODS

Longitudinal causal models were estimated among 240 White mother-daughter pairs from the Child Health and Development Study. Mothers and daughters were reinterviewed when daughters were aged 15 to 17 years, and daughters were interviewed at 27 to 30 years of age. Blood samples were obtained from both parents during pregnancy and from adult daughters.

RESULTS

Testosterone and smoking were positively correlated among mothers during their pregnancy and among adult daughters. Maternal prenatal cotinine had no direct effect on daughters' smoking; self-reported smoking in pregnancy did have a direct effect. Smoking among daughters during adolescence was determined by maternal prenatal testosterone and self-reported maternal smoking during pregnancy and postnatally. Smoking among adult daughters reflected chronic smoking since adolescence and the continuing effect of postnatal maternal smoking. Prenatal maternal testosterone affected adult daughters' testosterone.

CONCLUSIONS

Estimates of the impact of prenatal maternal smoking depend on the measure of smoking. Prenatal testosterone exposure is a previously unrecognized risk factor for smoking among female offspring.

Testosterone and men's health

Medical and behavioral research depicts the influence of testosterone on health in opposite ways, the former finding beneficial effects and the latter potentially detrimental ones. We investigate the relationship between testosterone and health risk behavior, indicators of disease, and overall health in a sample of 4393 men who were interviewed and medically examined. Analysis revealed that having a high level of testosterone, compared to a low level, increased the odds of health risk behavior. With respect to disease, high testosterone increased the odds of some health problems but decreased the chances of others. At very high levels testosterone loses many of its beneficial effects. Overall, men with high testosterone would be healthier if they did not engage in health risk behavior.

Insights into the development of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) from studies of prenatally androgenized female rhesus monkeys

The developmental pathophysiology of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is unknown. However, prenatally androgenized female rhesus monkeys exhibit ovarian and endocrinological features that mimic those found in women with PCOS. Thus, prenatal androgen excess may provide an etiology for hyperandrogenism and anovulation in adulthood.

Age, testosterone, and behavior among female prison inmates

OBJECTIVE

The objective of the study was to determine how testosterone levels, both alone and interacting with age, were associated with criminal behavior and institutional behavior among female prison inmates.

METHOD

Subjects were 87 female inmates in a maximum security state prison. Criminal behavior was scored from court records. Institutional behavior was scored from prison records and interviews with staff members. Testoster-one levels were scored from radioimmunoassay of saliva samples.

RESULTS

Product-moment correlations revealed first-order relationships among age, testosterone, criminal behavior, and institutional behavior. Structural equation analysis suggested a causal model in which age leads to lower testosterone, which in turn leads to less violent crime and less aggressive dominance in prison.

CONCLUSION

Testosterone is related to criminal violence and aggressive dominance in prison among women, as has been reported among men. Changes in these behaviors with age are in part explained by a decline in testosterone levels.