Evidence for an adolescent sensitive period to family experiences influencing adult male testosterone production

Abstract

Significance Testosterone influences how animals devote energy and time toward reproduction, including opposing demands of mating and competition versus parenting. Reflecting this, testosterone often declines in new fathers and lower testosterone is linked to greater caregiving. Given these roles, there is strong interest in factors that affect testosterone, including early-life experiences. In this multidecade study, Filipino sons whose fathers were present and involved with raising them when they were adolescents had lower testosterone when they later became fathers, compared to sons whose fathers were present but uninvolved or were not coresident. Sons’ own parenting behaviors did not explain these patterns. These results connect key social experiences during adolescence to adult testosterone, and point to possible intergenerational effects of parenting style.

Effects of social environments on male primate HPG and HPA axis developmental programming

“…Similarly, Filipino males who reported inconsistent paternal presence during childhood had shallower declines in testosterone as first‐time fathers, especially if they first engaged in sex at earlier ages (Sarma et al., 2018). Functionally, this may be a way that males integrate social information to inform their own reproductive strategies in adulthood (e.g., the allocation of time/energy towards competing aspects of reproductive effort; Gettler et al., 2022), which are commonly linked to HPG axis function. Conversely, though, males in Dominica had lower testosterone in adulthood if they reported having absent fathers during childhood (Flinn et al., 1996).…”

“…Before sexual maturation, the human brain is organized in a sex‐dependent manner to prepare for physiological and behavioral reproduction in adulthood (Perrin et al., 2008; Schulz & Sisk, 2016). There is some evidence that social experiences in childhood and adolescence can have long‐term effects on male HPG axis function (Barch et al., 2020; Flinn et al., 1996; Gettler et al., 2022). In a multidecade, longitudinal study, Filipino males whose fathers took an active role during their adolescence had lower testosterone as adults when they themselves became fathers, regardless of their own parenting styles and after controlling for relevant sociodemographic, developmental, and energetic covariates (Gettler et al., 2022).…”

“…childhood is another likely signal, internalized through social learning, that determines future reproductive strategies (Gettler et al, 2022).…”

“…The classic life history trade‐off is that of growth versus reproduction: when should growth stop and reproduction begin (Charnov & Berrigan, 1993)? For male primates in particular, the time/energetic trade‐off of mating versus parenting effort is another component of life history—one for which social information is particularly salient (Gettler, 2016; Gettler et al., 2022). For instance, we know that in some male primates, investing in paternal care can lead to greater reproductive success even when mating‐related investments are significant and polygynandry is the norm (Rosenbaum et al., 2018).…”

“…Males’ “decision‐making” about their developmental trajectories can thus be highly consequential in terms of gain or loss of reproductive opportunities, especially in species with high reproductive skew. For humans in particular, the type of parenting effort males are exposed to in childhood is another likely signal, internalized through social learning, that determines future reproductive strategies (Gettler et al., 2022).…”