Parenting quality is most optimal when fathers’ testosterone system reacts in the expected direction given the context of the father-child interaction: a T decrease/increase during a harmonious/challenging interaction

Testosterone and Fathers’ Parenting Unraveled: Links with the Quantity and Quality of Father-Child Interactions. Else E. de Vries et al. Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology,  October 2 2019. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40750-019-00118-z

Abstract
Objective: Individual differences in quality of father involvement in caregiving might in part be explained by fathers’ testosterone (T) levels. We examined the links between fathers’ (n = 32) salivary T levels, amount of time spent with their child (12–30 months of age), type of father-child interaction, and fathers’ sensitivity.

Methods: During two home visits, video observations of father-child interactions were conducted to measure fathers’ sensitivity during a challenging and harmonious interaction. Fathers’ saliva was collected several times throughout the day on a working day and on the home visit days, including right before and after each father-child interaction.

Results: Fathers’ T secretion throughout the day was lower on home visit days (i.e., days with a higher amount of time spent with their child) than on a working day. For both challenging and harmonious father-child interactions, mean T levels did not differ before and after father-child interactions. However, individual changes in fathers’ T levels during the father-child interactions did predict fathers’ sensitivity. Specifically, the more T increased during the challenging interaction, or decreased during the harmonious interaction, the more sensitive the father was during that interaction as well as during a subsequent interaction.

Conclusions: Parenting quality is most optimal when fathers’ T system reacts in the expected direction given the context of the father-child interaction, i.e., a T decrease during a harmonious interaction and a T increase during a challenging interaction. Our study underscores the importance of examining the interplay between biology, behavior, and caregiving context in fathers’ parenting.

Keywords: Fathers Testosterone Sensitivity Parenting Observation