Fathers' cortisol and testosterone in the days around infants' births predict later paternal involvement

Abstract

Human paternal behavior is multidimensional, and extant research has yet to delineate how hormone patterns may be related to different dimensions of fathering. Further, although studies vary in their measurement of hormones (i.e., basal or reactivity), it remains unclear whether basal and/or reactivity measures are predictive of different aspects of men's parenting. We examined whether men's testosterone and cortisol predicted fathers' involvement in childcare and play with infants and whether fathers' testosterone and cortisol changed during fathers' first interaction with their newborn. Participants were 298 fathers whose partners gave birth in a UNICEF-designated "baby-friendly" hospital, which encourages fathers to hold their newborns 1 h after birth, after mothers engage in skin-to-skin holding. Salivary testosterone and cortisol were measured before and after fathers' first holding of their newborns. Basal and short-term changes in cortisol and testosterone were analyzed. Fathers were contacted 2-4 months following discharge to complete questionnaires about childcare involvement. Fathers' cortisol decreased during the time they held their newborns on the birthing unit. Fathers' basal testosterone in the immediate postnatal period predicted their greater involvement in childcare. Both basal and reactivity cortisol predicted fathers' greater involvement in childcare and play. Results suggest that reduced basal testosterone is linked with enhanced paternal indirect and direct parenting effort months later, and that higher basal cortisol and increases in cortisol in response to newborn interaction are predictive of greater paternal involvement in childcare and play, also months later. Findings are discussed in the context of predominating theoretical models on parental neuroendocrinology.

Mothers' and fathers' joint profiles for testosterone and oxytocin in a small‐scale fishing‐farming community: Variation based on marital conflict and paternal contributions

“…While these findings ostensibly conflict with the patterns we documented among Bondongo fathers, they are potentially congruent because of the distinction between basal hormone production and shorter-term reactivity (Kuo et al, 2018;Trumble et al, 2015). Based on existing models (van Anders et al, 2011;Crespi, 2016), we suggest it is plausible that in socially hierarchical contexts such as among the Bondongo and Tsimane (von Rueden et al, 2011), men who are ranked highly for dominance and status will tend to have elevated basal T and reduced basal OT, but will show short-term rises in OT production in response to socially rewarding contexts pertaining to status (e.g., hunting for Tsimane men).…”

“…In one of the only prior naturalistic studies of OT in a small‐scale society that emphasizes fathers' provisioning, Jaeggi et al () found that Tsimane foragers' salivary OT increased across a multiple‐hour hunting expedition. In this study, men who exhibited greater OT increases during the hunt likewise showed larger elevations in T. While these findings ostensibly conflict with the patterns we documented among Bondongo fathers, they are potentially congruent because of the distinction between basal hormone production and shorter‐term reactivity (Kuo et al, ; Trumble et al, ). Based on existing models (van Anders et al, ; Crespi, ), we suggest it is plausible that in socially hierarchical contexts such as among the Bondongo and Tsimane (von Rueden et al, ), men who are ranked highly for dominance and status will tend to have elevated basal T and reduced basal OT, but will show short‐term rises in OT production in response to socially rewarding contexts pertaining to status (e.g., hunting for Tsimane men).…”

“…T, including based on behavioral and biological costs of maintaining chronically elevated basal T (Roney & Gettler, 2015;Storey, Walsh, Quinton, & Wynne-Edwards, 2000;Trumble et al, 2013). While our idea is speculative at this time, these coconsiderations of basal levels and acute reactivity merit further attention in future research on fathers' OT and family roles, paralleling past work on hormones such as T, cortisol, and prolactin (Fleming, Corter, Stallings, & Steiner, 2002;Kuo et al, 2018).…”

“…Our study has a number of limitations that are worthy of discussion. First, our sample sizes for mothers and fathers were relatively small compared to studies of maternal and paternal psychobiology in industrialized settings in more highly populated societies (Barrett et al, ; Feldman et al, ; Gettler, Sarma, et al, ; Gordon et al, ; Kuo et al, ). Small sample sizes limit statistical power but can also contribute to inflated effect sizes for statistically significant results (Button et al, ).…”

“…Specifically, research in multiple societies has shown that men and women often have lower T when they have young children that require intensive childcare (Alvarado et al, 2015;Barrett et al, 2013;Gray, Kahlenberg, Barrett, Lipson, & Ellison, 2002;Kuzawa, Gettler, Huang, & McDade, 2010). In some cultural settings, fathers also have reduced T when they engage in more nurturant, direct caregiving (Alvergne, Faurie, & Raymond, 2009;Edelstein et al, 2017;Gettler, McDade, Agustin, Feranil, & Kuzawa, 2015;Kuo et al, 2018;Mascaro, Hackett, & Rilling, 2013;Weisman, Zagoory-Sharon, & Feldman, 2014). U.S. men and women with lower T also report greater commitment and satisfaction in their romantic relationships, as do their partners (Edelstein, van Anders, Chopik, Goldey, & Wardecker, 2014;Saxbe, Edelstein, et al, 2017).…”