ArticleHormones and behavior2017
High paternal testosterone may protect against postpartum depressive symptoms in fathers, but confer risk to mothers and children.
Article in Hormones and behavior, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 47 citations in OpenAlex.
- A holistic review of fatherhood in humans and non-human animals: mechanisms of fatherhood, effects on fathers themselves, and interactions of fathers with others.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2026Review
- The dual-hormone hypothesis and first-time fathers' relationship satisfaction at 3 months postpartum.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- No evidence for relationship between paternal post-partum depressive symptoms and testosterone or cortisol in first-time fathers.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Depressive Symptoms in Expecting Fathers: Is Paternal Perinatal Depression a Valid Concept? A Systematic Review of Evidence.Journal of personalized medicine · 2022Review
- Evidence for an adolescent sensitive period to family experiences influencing adult male testosterone production.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2022Article
- The Neural Basis of Human Fatherhood: A Unique Biocultural Perspective on Plasticity of Brain and Behavior.Clinical child and family psychology review · 2022Review
- Expanding the international conversation with fathers' mental health: toward an era of inclusion in perinatal research and practice.Archives of women's mental health · 2021Review
- Testosterone Associations With Parents' Child Abuse Risk and At-Risk Parenting: A Multimethod Longitudinal Examination.Child maltreatment · 2021Article
- Within-person changes of cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone, testosterone, estradiol, and progesterone in hair across pregnancy, with comparison to a non-pregnant reference group.Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology · 2021Article
- How do expectant fathers respond to infant cry? Examining brain and behavioral responses and the moderating role of testosterone.Social cognitive and affective neuroscience · 2020Article
- When Fathers Begin to Falter: A Comprehensive Review on Paternal Perinatal Depression.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Review
- Profiles of Depressive Symptoms and Anger in Men: Associations With Postpartum Family Functioning.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2020Article
- Mothers' and fathers' joint profiles for testosterone and oxytocin in a small-scale fishing-farming community: Variation based on marital conflict and paternal contributions.Brain and behavior · 2019Article
- Preliminary evidence that androgen signaling is correlated with men's everyday language.American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Following the birth of an infant, decreases in testosterone and increases in depressive symptoms have been observed in fathers. Paternal testosterone may reflect fathers' investment in pair-bonding and paternal caregiving and, as such, may be associated with maternal and familial well-being. This study tests associations between paternal testosterone, paternal and maternal postpartum depressive symptoms, and subsequent family functioning. Within 149 couples, fathers provided testosterone samples when infants were approximately nine months old and both parents reported on postpartum depressive symptoms at two, nine, and 15months postpartum. Fathers with lower aggregate testosterone reported more depressive symptoms at two and nine months postpartum. Mothers whose partners had higher evening testosterone reported more depressive symptoms at nine and 15months postpartum. Maternal relationship satisfaction mediated this effect, such that mothers with higher testosterone partners reported more relationship dissatisfaction, which in turn predicted more maternal depressive symptoms. Higher paternal testosterone and paternal depressive symptoms at nine months postpartum each independently predicted greater fathering stress at 15months postpartum. Higher paternal testosterone also predicted more mother-reported intimate partner aggression at 15months postpartum. In addition to linear relationships between testosterone and depression, curvilinear relationships emerged such that fathers with both low and high testosterone at nine months postpartum reported more subsequent (15-month) depressive symptoms and fathering stress. In conclusion, whereas higher paternal testosterone may protect against paternal depression, it contributed to maternal distress and suboptimal family outcomes in our sample. Interventions that supplement or alter men's testosterone may have unintended consequences for family well-being.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.