Booth A, Johnson D R, Granger D A
Department of Sociology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park 16802, USA.
J Health Soc Behav. 1999 Jun;40(2):130-40.
Medical research suggests that testosterone has positive effects on mood (thereby reducing the chances of depression), and social science research finds testosterone to be related to antisocial behavior, risk behavior, unemployment and low paying jobs, and being unmarried--factors known to be positively related to depression. Analysis of a sample of 4,393 men finds a parabolic model best fits the data. The relationship between testosterone and depression is inverse for men with below average testosterone and direct for those with above average testosterone. The relationship disappears for those with above average testosterone when controls for antisocial and risk behaviors and the absence of protective factors such as marriage and steady employment are in the equation. The relationship is unchanged for those with below average testosterone. The results help explain the difference between medical and social research findings. Mechanisms accounting for the findings are explored.
医学研究表明，睾酮对情绪有积极影响（从而降低患抑郁症的几率），而社会科学研究发现，睾酮与反社会行为、风险行为、失业、低薪工作以及未婚有关，这些因素已知与抑郁症呈正相关。对4393名男性样本的分析发现，抛物线模型最适合这些数据。对于睾酮水平低于平均水平的男性，睾酮与抑郁症之间的关系呈负相关；而对于睾酮水平高于平均水平的男性，二者关系呈正相关。当在方程中控制了反社会和风险行为以及缺乏婚姻和稳定就业等保护因素时，对于睾酮水平高于平均水平的男性，这种关系就消失了。对于睾酮水平低于平均水平的男性，这种关系保持不变。这些结果有助于解释医学和社会研究结果之间的差异。文中还探讨了解释这些发现的机制。
