Monthly measures of salivary testosterone predict sexual activity in adolescent males
Abstract
Strong relationships between one-time serum testosterone (T) measures and sexual activity have been demonstrated in cross-sectional analyses of adolescent males. However, a subsequent longitudinal study of a separate adolescent sample, using semiannual plasma measures, failed to replicate cross-sectional findings. The present study reexamined the relationship between T and sexual activity using more frequently collected measures of salivary T and behavior. Saliva samples and weekly behavior checklists were collected over a 2-year period from the same panel sample of males on which semiannual analyses were based. Saliva samples representing measures approximately every fourth week of study participation were selected for T assay. The association between these monthly salivary T measures and weekly reports of incidents of sexual activity was assessed with repeated measures analyses. Higher levels of salivary T were significantly associated with an increasing hazard of coital initiation, and with more frequent coital and noncoital activity. Within-individual change analyses demonstrated that increases in salivary T were associated with increased sexual activity. Comparisons of models that varied specimen type, schedule of T measurement, and type of behavioral report indicated that all three factors contribute to the varying magnitude of hormone/behavior relationships that are demonstrated. These findings are consistent with a biosocial model of adolescent sexual development that pubertal changes in T are a causal factor in the timing of sexual initiation and the frequency of activity during adolescence.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In cross-sectional studies, independent of pubertal stage and age, girls and boys with higher levels of testosterone are more likely to engage in sexual intercourse.
“In cross-sectional studies, independent of pubertal stage and age, girls and boys with higher levels of testosterone are more likely to engage in sexual intercourse (Halpern et al., 1997, Halpern et al., 1998).”
From Becoming a sexual being: The “elephant in the room” of adolescent brain development (2017) · cites this paper as Halpern et al., 1998
Cites
Regression Models and Life-Tables
Cox, D. R. (1972) · Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series B: Statistical Methodology · doi:10.1111/j.2517-6161.1972.tb00899.x · Cited by 39,793 · see citing works
Applied Multivariate Statistics for the Social Sciences
Stevens, J. P. (2012) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9780203843130 · Cited by 10,652 · see citing works
Effects of Androgen on Sexual Behavior in Hypogonadal Men
Davidson, J. M., Camargo, C. A., & Smith, E. R. (1979) · The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism · doi:10.1210/jcem-48-6-955 · Cited by 367 · see citing works
Skakkebæk, N. E., Bancroft, J., DAVIDSON, D. W., & Warner, P. (1981) · Clinical Endocrinology · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2265.1981.tb00364.x · Cited by 335 · see citing works
Salivary Testosterone in Men: Further Evidence of a Direct Correlation with Free Serum Testosterone*
WANG, C., Plymate, S. R., Nieschlag, E., & Paulsen, C. A. (1981) · The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism · doi:10.1210/jcem-53-5-1021 · Cited by 207 · see citing works
Serum androgenic hormones motivate sexual behavior in adolescent boys
Richard Udry, J., Billy, J. O. G., Morris, N. M., Groff, T. R., & Raj, M. H. (1985) · Fertility and Sterility · doi:10.1016/s0015-0282(16)48324-x · Cited by 201 · see citing works
O’Carroll, R. E., Shapiro, C. M., & Bancroft, J. (1985) · Clinical Endocrinology · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2265.1985.tb01113.x · Cited by 178 · see citing works
Heterosexual behavior assessment—I. Males
Bentler, P. M. (1968) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/0005-7967(68)90037-5 · Cited by 158 · see citing works
Effects of testosterone replacement on sexual behavior in hypogonadal men
Salmimies, P., Kockott, G., Pirke, K. M., Vogt, H. ‐., & Schill, W. B. (1982) · Archives of Sexual Behavior · doi:10.1007/bf01541595 · Cited by 153 · see citing works
Coital and non-coital sexual behaviors of white and black adolescents.
Smith, E. A., & Udry, J. R. (1985) · American Journal of Public Health · doi:10.2105/ajph.75.10.1200 · Cited by 134 · see citing works
Heterosexual behavior assessment—II. Females
Bentler, P. M. (1968) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/0005-7967(68)90038-7 · Cited by 125 · see citing works
Testosterone predicts initiation of coitus in adolescent females
Halpern, C. T., Udry, J. R., & Suchindran, C. (1997) · Psychosomatic Medicine · doi:10.1097/00006842-199703000-00008 · Cited by 124 · see citing works
Self-citationOrgasmic frequency and plasma testosterone levels in normal human males
KRAEMER, H. C., Becker, H. B., Brodie, H. K. H., Doering, C. H., Moos, R. H., & Hamburg, D. A. (1976) · Archives of Sexual Behavior · doi:10.1007/bf01541869 · Cited by 117 · see citing works
Halpern, C. T., Udry, J. R., Campbell, B., & Suchindran, C. (1993) · Psychosomatic Medicine · doi:10.1097/00006842-199309000-00007 · Cited by 108 · see citing works
Self-citationLuisi, M., & Franchi, F. (1980) · Journal of Endocrinological Investigation · doi:10.1007/bf03348281 · Cited by 103 · see citing works
Jaccard, J. J., & Wan, C. K. (1995) · Journal of Applied Social Psychology · doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.1995.tb01820.x · Cited by 95 · see citing works
Serum testosterone and sexual activity and interest in men
Brown, W. A., Monti, P. M., & Corriveau, D. P. (1978) · Archives of Sexual Behavior · doi:10.1007/bf01542059 · Cited by 92 · see citing works
Halpern, C. T., Udry, J. R., Campbell, B., Suchindran, C., & Mason, G. (1994) · Journal of Biosocial Science · doi:10.1017/s0021932000021258 · Cited by 92 · see citing works
Self-citationSALIVARY TESTOSTERONE LEVELS AND THE PROGRESS OF PUBERTY IN THE NORMAL BOY
Butler, G. E., WALKER, R. F., WALKER, R. V., TEAGUE, P., Riad-Fahmy, D., & Ratcliffe, S. G. (1989) · Clinical Endocrinology · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2265.1989.tb01431.x · Cited by 86 · see citing works
Sannikka, E., Terho, P., Suominen, J., & Santti, R. (1983) · International Journal of Andrology · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2605.1983.tb00546.x · Cited by 67 · see citing works
Reliability of salivary testosterone measurements: a multicenter evaluation
Dabbs, J. M., Campbell, B., Gladue, B. A., MIDGLEY, A. R., Navarro, M. A., Read, G. F., Susman, E. J., Swinkels, L. M. J. W., & Worthman, C. M. (1995) · Clinical Chemistry · doi:10.1093/clinchem/41.11.1581 · Cited by 66 · see citing works
Ratios of plasma and salivary testosterone throughout puberty: production versus bioavailability
Rilling, J. K., Worthman, C. M., Campbell, B. C., Stallings, J. F., & Mbizva, M. (1996) · Steroids · doi:10.1016/0039-128x(96)00043-8 · Cited by 65 · see citing works
Reported coital activity of men and levels of plasma testosterone
Raboch, J., & St�rka, L. (1973) · Archives of Sexual Behavior · doi:10.1007/bf01541004 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Halpern, C. T., Udry, J. R., & Suchindran, C. (1994) · Archives of Sexual Behavior · doi:10.1007/bf01541617 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Self-citationVariation in Adolescent Hormone Measures and Implications for Behavioral Research
Halpern, C. T., & Udry, J. R. (1992) · Journal of Research on Adolescence · doi:10.1207/s15327795jra0202_1 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Self-citation
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
NELSON, E. E., LEIBENLUFT, E., McCLURE, E. B., & PINE, D. S. (2005) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291704003915 · Cited by 1,075 · see citing works
Streckfus, C., & Bigler, L. (2002) · Oral Diseases · doi:10.1034/j.1601-0825.2002.1o834.x · Cited by 374 · see citing works
The reality and evolutionary significance of human psychological sex differences
Archer, J. (2019) · Biological Reviews · doi:10.1111/brv.12507 · Cited by 291 · see citing works
Adolescent neurobiological susceptibility to social context
Schriber, R. A., & Guyer, A. E. (2016) · Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience · doi:10.1016/j.dcn.2015.12.009 · Cited by 246 · see citing works
Puberty and adolescent sexuality
Fortenberry, J. D. (2013) · Hormones and Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2013.03.007 · Cited by 200 · see citing works
Adrenarche and the evolution of human life history
Campbell, B. (2006) · American Journal of Human Biology · doi:10.1002/ajhb.20528 · Cited by 150 · see citing works
Becoming a sexual being: The “elephant in the room” of adolescent brain development
Suleiman, A. B., Galván, A., Harden, K. P., & Dahl, R. E. (2017) · Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience · doi:10.1016/j.dcn.2016.09.004 · Cited by 89 · see citing works
Timing of pubertal maturation and the onset of sexual behavior among zimbabwe school boys
Campbell, B. C., Prossinger, H., & Mbzivo, M. (2005) · Archives of Sexual Behavior · doi:10.1007/s10508-005-6276-7 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
- Authors
- Halpern, C. T., Udry, R., & Suchindran, C.
- Affiliations
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
- Venue
- Archives of Sexual Behavior
- Published
- 1998-10
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 445-465
- ISSN
- 0004-0002 (ISSN-L)
- 1573-2800
- OpenAlex
- W10580771
- Cited by
- 97
- References
- 25
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 4.63
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- Archives of Sexual Behavior (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (5p30hd018968-12)
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (HD 05798, HD 12806, P30HD005798, HD-18968)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Reproductive Medicine › Hypothalamic control of reproductive hormones
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Hormonal and reproductive studies
- Keywords
- salivary testosterone, adolescent sexual activity, hormone-behavior relationship, within-person change, measurement frequency, plasma testosterone
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Psychology, Adolescent, Data Collection, Follow-Up Studies, Humans, Predictive Value of Tests, Puberty, Saliva, Sexual Behavior, Sexual Abstinence, Testosterone
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
