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Cited by 99Neuroendocrine regulation and behaviorEvolutionary Psychology and Human BehaviorFamily Dynamics and Relationships

Mothers have lower testosterone than non-mothers: Evidence from the Philippines

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Kuzawa, Christopher W., Gettler, Lee T., Huang, Yuan-yen, McDade, Thomas W.·2010·Hormones and Behavior
DOI 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2010.01.014PMC PMC2857926
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Abstract

Testosterone (T) is lower among fathers and men in committed relationships, suggesting that the hormone mediates the trade-off between mating and parenting effort. The function of T in women and responses of the hormone to relationships or motherhood are less well understood. Here we report relationships between T and pairbonding and motherhood in a random sample of 67 women (20.9 to 22.4 years old) participating in a population-based birth cohort study in the Philippines. Testosterone was measured in saliva collected at bedtime and at waking the following morning to capture circadian dynamics. Compared to non-mothers and non-pairbonded women, mothers and pairbonded women had 32% (p<0.0001) and 23% (p<0.004) lower waking T, respectively, but similar evening T. The lower waking T in mothers largely reflected reduced T in mothers of young offspring (<2 years), with mothers of older offspring (2+ years) having intermediate T. These differences were independent of measures of breastfeeding, contraceptive pill use, menstrual cycle, sleep quality, education, employment, and socioeconomic status. Our findings highlight a similar relationship between parenting and committed relationships and T in women as documented in men and suggest that caregiving of dependent young may modulate female T. Future research should clarify whether this cross-sectional association reflects a suppressive effect of motherhood on T, whether these relationships vary across cultures, and the role of T within the endocrine architecture regulating female reproductive and caregiving strategies.

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  • Longitudinal research suggests testosterone declines with both pair-bonding and parenthood in men and women.

    “Longitudinal research suggests that testosterone declines both as a function of pair-bonding and of parenthood in both men and women (Gettler et al., 2011; Kuzawa, Gettler, Huang, & McDade, 2010).”

    From Prospective and dyadic associations between expectant parents’ prenatal hormone changes and postpartum parenting outcomes (2017) · cites this paper as Kuzawa, Gettler, Huang, & McDade, 2010

    The Abstract reports lower waking testosterone in mothers and pairbonded women, and the Introduction describes similar associations in men. But the Abstract calls the study’s finding cross-sectional, not longitudinal; the Results also find that pairbonding is no longer a significant predictor in women after adjusting for motherhood. This source therefore does not establish declines over time with both transitions in both sexes. (LLM, conf=0.89)

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Authors
Kuzawa, C. W., Gettler, L. T., Huang, Y.-Y., & McDade, T. W.
Affiliations
Northwestern University (US)
Corresponding author
Kuzawa, Christopher W.
ORCID
Venue
Hormones and Behavior
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2010-04
Volume
57
Issue
4-5
Pages
441-447
ISSN
0018-506X (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.yhbeh.2010.01.014
PMC
PMC2857926
OpenAlex
W2161767938
Cited by
99
References
66
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 16 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 2
FWCI
7.43
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Hormones and Behavior (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • Wenner-Gren Foundation
  • National Institutes of Health (5p20rr020649-03)
  • Food and Nutrition Research Institute
  • National Institute of Mental Health (T32MH075854)
  • National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (ES 10126, P30ES010126)
  • National Center for Research Resources (RR20649, P20-RR020649)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
  • Social Sciences › Demography › Family Dynamics and Relationships
Keywords
testosterone, motherhood, committed relationships, female reproductive strategy, caregiving, saliva testosterone
MeSH terms
Breast Feeding, Contraceptive Agents, Female, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Humans, Male, Maternal Behavior, Menstrual Cycle, Mothers, Pair Bond, Philippines, Regression Analysis, Saliva, Social Environment, Socioeconomic Factors, Testosterone, Cohort Studies, Young Adult

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