Androgen dynamics in the context of children's peer relations: an examination of the links between testosterone and peer victimization

Abstract

Testosterone levels have been shown to decrease in the face of social defeat in several mammalian species. Among humans, the loss of social status has been studied primarily in the context of athletic competition, with winners having higher testosterone levels than losers. This study examined testosterone levels in relation to peer victimization (bullying) in a sample of 151 boys and girls aged 12-13. Statistically controlling for age and pubertal status, results indicated that on average verbally bullied girls produced less testosterone and verbally bullied boys produced more testosterone than their nonbullied counterparts. Similar trends were evident comparing social and physical bullying with testosterone. Sex differences are discussed in terms of empirically validated differences in coping styles, as girls tend to internalize, whereas boys tend to externalize, their abuse.

Support for religio‐political aggression among teenaged boys in Gaza: Part II: Neuroendocrinological findings

“…Second, T may be even less well associated with aggression among young adolescents than it is among older adolescents or adult males [Archer, 1991; Halpern et al, 1995; Schaal et al, 1996; van Bokhoven et al, 2006]. Indeed, rather than regarding T as an “aggression” hormone, it is useful to acknowledge that T levels in adolescent boys are positively associated with a broad spectrum of experiences, emotions, traits, and behaviors, including social dominance [Schaal et al, 1996; Tremblay et al, 1998; van Bokhoven et al, 2006], social potency [Reynolds et al, 2007], leadership [Kerschbaum et al, 2006; Rowe et al, 2004], reactivity to provocation or threat [Olweus et al, 1980, 1988], externalizing behavior [Maras et al, 2003], approval of antisocial behavior [Reynolds et al, 2007], nonaggressive risk taking [Vermeersch et al, 2008], nonaggressive symptoms of conduct disorder [Rowe et al, 2004], transition to nonvirgin status [Halpern et al, 1995, 1998], and even being the victims of bullying [Vaillancourt et al, 2009]. Thus, it is not entirely surprising that our results do not support our subsidiary T hypothesis.…”

A Developmental Perspective on Peer Rejection, Deviant Peer Affiliation, and Conduct Problems Among Youth

“…There is some empirical and theoretical support for sex differences in developmental trajectories of conduct problems [67–72]; in addition, in terms of form, girls are typically more indirectly aggressive than boys, whereas boys are more physically aggressive than girls [73–75]. There is also some evidence suggesting that boys and girls respond differently, biologically and socially, to peer provocations, with males exhibiting patterns that are more consistent with externalizing problems than females [76–77]. Boys are also more likely to affiliate with deviant peers than girls [78–79].…”

The Teenage Brain

“…The social environment plays an important role: The effect of testosterone on aggression was only found when the individual's status was threatened (Josephs, Mehta, & Carre, 2011; Josephs, Sellers, Newman, & Mehta, 2006). Moreover, bullied girls were found to produce less testosterone and bullied boys produced more testosterone than their non-bullied counterparts (Vaillancourt, deCatanzaro, Duku, & Muir, 2009). This study demonstrates that the social environment is not only able to mediate testosterone effects on behavior, but influences actual levels of testosterone itself.…”