TY - JOUR
T1 - Early androgen effects on interest in infants
T2 - Evidence from children with congenital adrenal hyperplasia
AU - Leveroni, Catherine L.
AU - Berenbaum, Sheri A.
N1 - Funding Information:
This study represents Catherine Leveroni's master's thesis research and was supported by National Institutes of Health Grant HD19644. We thank the following people who contributed to this project: Stephen Duck, Orville Green, David Klein, Ora Pescovitz, Gail Richards, and Julio Santiago generously provided access to their patients and answered medical questions; Kristina Korman, Elizabeth Snyder, Kim Ketterling, Robyn Reed, George Vineyard, and Cindy Tubbs assisted in data collection or processing; Stephen Duck examined medical records and provided ratings on degree of genital virilization; Michael Seidenberg, Susan Resnick, and two reviewers provided thoughtful and helpful comments on the article. We are very grateful to the participants and their parents for their participation in the study.
PY - 1998
Y1 - 1998
N2 - Early androgens have been shown to facilitate male-typical behavior in people, but little attention has been paid to androgen effects on female- typical behavior. We studied the effects of early androgen on human interest in infants, attempting to extend studies in rodents and primates that indicate that exposure to high levels of androgen in the prenatal and early postnatal periods reduces the expression of maternal behavior in juvenile and adult animals. Parents completed a questionnaire about the behavior of children with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) who had been exposed to high levels of androgens early in life, and their unexposed siblings. As hypothesized, girls with CAH were reported to have less interest in infants than their sisters. These results suggest that early androgens may act to suppress some aspects of female-typical behavior in people, as in other species, and that sex differences in maternal behavior result, in part, from early hormones.
AB - Early androgens have been shown to facilitate male-typical behavior in people, but little attention has been paid to androgen effects on female- typical behavior. We studied the effects of early androgen on human interest in infants, attempting to extend studies in rodents and primates that indicate that exposure to high levels of androgen in the prenatal and early postnatal periods reduces the expression of maternal behavior in juvenile and adult animals. Parents completed a questionnaire about the behavior of children with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) who had been exposed to high levels of androgens early in life, and their unexposed siblings. As hypothesized, girls with CAH were reported to have less interest in infants than their sisters. These results suggest that early androgens may act to suppress some aspects of female-typical behavior in people, as in other species, and that sex differences in maternal behavior result, in part, from early hormones.
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U2 - 10.1080/87565649809540714
DO - 10.1080/87565649809540714
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:0031828014
SN - 8756-5641
VL - 14
SP - 321
EP - 340
JO - Developmental Neuropsychology
JF - Developmental Neuropsychology
IS - 2-3
ER -