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Cited by 401Neuroendocrine regulation and behaviorInfant Health and DevelopmentFamily Dynamics and Relationships

Testosterone and prolactin are associated with emotional responses to infant cries in new fathers

Fleming, Alison S., Corter, Carl, Stallings, Joy, Steiner, Meir·2002·Hormones and Behavior
DOI 10.1006/hbeh.2002.1840
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Abstract

To determine the responsiveness of new fathers and non-fathers toward infant cues, we exposed fathers and non-fathers to infant cries and to control stimuli and we measured affective, heart-rate, and endocrine responses, including salivary testosterone and cortisol and plasma prolactin concentrations prior to and after cry presentations. We found that (1) fathers hearing the cry stimuli felt more sympathetic and more alert compared to groups who did not hear the cries or to non-fathers who heard the cries; (2) fathers and non-fathers with lower testosterone levels had higher sympathy and/or need to respond to the infant cries than fathers with higher testosterone levels; (3) fathers with higher, as opposed to lower, prolactin levels were also more alert and more positive in response to the cries; (4) fathers hearing the cry stimuli showed greater percentage increase in testosterone than fathers not hearing the cry stimuli; (5) experienced fathers hearing the cries showed a greater percentage increase in prolactin levels compared to first-time fathers or to any group of fathers hearing control stimuli; finally, (6) partial correlations with parity and experience entered as a covariates indicated that both experience and testosterone contributed to the variance in fathers' affective responses to infant cries. Taken together, these results indicate that, as with a number of other biparental species, human fathers are more responsive to infant cues than are non-fathers and fathers' responses to infant cues are related to both hormones and to caregiving experience.

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  • Men with lower baseline testosterone report greater empathy in response to infant cries.

    “and greater empathy in response to infant cries (Fleming, Corter, Stallings, & Steiner, 2002).”

    From Prospective and dyadic associations between expectant parents’ prenatal hormone changes and postpartum parenting outcomes (2017) · cites this paper as Fleming, Corter, Stallings, & Steiner, 2002

  • Exposure to cry stimuli increases fathers' testosterone levels.

    “for example, exposure to cry stimuli increases fathers’ testosterone levels (Fleming, Corter, Stallings, & Steiner, 2002; Van Anders, Tolman, & Volling, 2012).”

    From Birth of a Father: Fathering in the First 1,000 Days (2019) · cites this paper as Fleming et al., 2002

  • In fathers, cortisol levels increase in response to infant crying, and decrease when they hold their newborn or interact with their toddler.

    “In fathers, cortisol levels increase in response to infant crying (Fleming et al., 2002), and decrease when they hold their newborn (Kuo et al., 2018) or interact with their toddler (Storey, Noseworthy, Delahunty, Halfyard, & McKay, 2011).”

    From Birth of a Father: Fathering in the First 1,000 Days (2019) · cites this paper as Fleming et al., 2002

  • Normal parent responses to infant cries are associated with several hormones.

    “Normal parent responses to infant cries are also associated with a several hormones (Fleming et al., 2002), which may serve to help orchestrate appropriate short and long term brain activity and behavioral responses.”

    From The human parental brain: In vivo neuroimaging (2011) · cites this paper as Fleming et al., 2002

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Authors
Fleming, A. S., Corter, C., Stallings, J., & Steiner, M.
Affiliations
  • University of Toronto (CA)
  • Emory University (US)
  • St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton (CA)
Corresponding author
Fleming, Alison S.
ORCID
Steiner, Meir
Venue
Hormones and Behavior
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2002-12
Volume
42
Issue
4
Pages
399-413
ISSN
0018-506X (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1006/hbeh.2002.1840
OpenAlex
W2095568208
Semantic Scholar
28bab77b96906c859df7f4f20ce68583920079ba
Cited by
401
References
48
Citations by year
2026: 11 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 28 · 2018: 17 · 2017: 24 · 2016: 19 · 2015: 27 · 2014: 21 · 2013: 21 · 2012: 21
FWCI
12.99
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Hormones and Behavior (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › Pharmacy › Infant Health and Development
  • Social Sciences › Demography › Family Dynamics and Relationships
Keywords
testosterone, prolactin, infant crying, new fathers, infant cues, emotional responses, heart rate, cortisol, salivary hormones, fathers' experiences, parity, caregiver experiences, biparental care
MeSH terms
Adult, Arousal, Auditory Perception, Crying, Emotions, Fathers, Female, Humans, Hydrocortisone, Infant Care, Infant, Newborn, Male, Middle Aged, Odorants, Paternal Behavior, Prolactin, Reference Values, Testosterone

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