Testosterone and Fathers’ Parenting Unraveled: Links with the Quantity and Quality of Father-Child Interactions

Exploring the role of endocrine factors in sensitive parenting in men

Parental sensitivity has been studied extensively in parenting research. Recently, there has been increasing attention to endocrine factors that may be related to parental sensitivity, such as oxytocin, vasopressin, testosterone, and cortisol. Although hormones do not act in isolation, few studies integrated multiple hormones and examined their combined associations with parental sensitivity. The current study aimed to explore the hormonal correlates of paternal sensitivity by examining in 79 first-time fathers of young infants (2-4 months old) (1) the separate and combined associations of basal oxytocin, vasopressin, testosterone, and cortisol levels with sensitivity, and (2) the associations between paternal sensitivity and oxytocin, vasopressin, testosterone, and cortisol reactivity following father-infant interactions. We additionally explored whether interactions between the various basal hormone levels could predict paternal sensitivity. Saliva for the quantification of fathers' hormone levels was sampled before and after an interaction with their infant to determine basal levels and reactivity. Results revealed no significant associations between sensitivity and basal hormone levels or reactivity. However, results indicated that cortisol and testosterone interacted in their effects on paternal sensitive parenting. Namely, fathers with low basal cortisol levels showed more sensitivity with increasing T levels, but fathers with high cortisol levels were less sensitive with increasing T levels. However, it should be noted that the latter slope was not significantly different from zero. These findings suggest that variations in parental sensitivity might be better explained by interactions between hormones than by single hormone levels.

Fathering behavior, attachment, and engagement in childcare predict testosterone and cortisol

The present study examined testosterone (T) and cortisol (Cort) in fathers engaged with caregiving. We collected saliva samples in the mornings and evenings of two consecutive days in 150 fathers of 1- to 5-year-old children. Fathers completed questionnaires on socioeconomic status, family structure and life, sleep characteristics and body mass index (BMI), and reported on their engagement in childcare. Fathers used smartphone-based experience sampling throughout 1 week to sample ongoing activities with their children, including times of supervision, joint play, rough-and-tumble play, and cuddling episodes. External observers rated father-child attachment during a home visit. We began by testing for widely characterized covariates of T and excluded seasonal variations and known predictors associated with lowered T, such as older fathers and those with multiple and young children, lower BMI, shorter sleep duration, and sexual activity before sampling. Most interestingly, however, fathers' engagement in childcare and attachment to the child appeared more pronounced the greater the diurnal decline in T. Cuddling predicted a similar negative association, whereas joint play and rough-and-tumble play (RTP) showed enhancing effects on declining T. Interestingly, all fathering behaviors (except RTP) were positively related to lower Cort. In contrast, supervision was ineffective on both Cort and T.

The postnatal testosterone rebound in first-time fathers and the quality and quantity of paternal care

In human males, testosterone (T) decreases in the period following the birth of offspring. This decline has been widely interpreted as a facultative neuroendocrine response that facilitates parenting effort. Conversely, research on if (or when) this decline in T would be followed by an eventual recovery and subsequent shift away from parenting effort is lacking. In a U.S. community sample of 225 males transitioning to first-time fatherhood, we measured T at three occasions: third trimester, infant 3 months postnatal, and infant 9-10 months postnatal. Using a piecewise latent growth curve model (GCM), we detected a T rebound from when infants were 3 months old to when infants were 9-10 months old. The slope of this rebound was able to predict paternal care using two distinct measures: (a) an experience sampling method (ESM) that gathered data on paternal time allocation over the course of the study period and (b) independent coders rating fathers for the quality of paternal care during a structured task designed to elicit an infant fear response. As predicted, the more accelerated one's T rebound (slope), the less time fathers invested in their infants across the study period. However, we found a positive relationship between T rebound and quality of paternal care during a challenging activity. Discussion will focus on nuanced reasons that contribute to these findings as well as speculate on the ultimate function of a human paternal T rebound.