Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois.
Department of Anthropology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana.
Am J Hum Biol. 2018 Nov;30(6):e23180. doi: 10.1002/ajhb.23180. Epub 2018 Oct 16.
Cross-culturally, men's T declines in response to pairbonding and fatherhood, but less is known about what happens to T during and after life history transitions that theoretically lead to renewed mating effort. We tested whether men's T rises (or declines less with age) as their children age, or when pairbonds end, independent of changes in fatherhood-related variables such as co-residence with children.
We used demographic, behavioral, and salivary hormone data (waking and pre-bed T) collected in 2009 and 2014 for the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey (n = 571 men).
Fathers with older children tended to have attenuated decline in pre-bedtime T between 2009 and 2014 compared to men with younger children, after controlling for pairbonding (ß = 1.58, SE = 0.88, P = 0.074). Separated men had higher pre-bedtime T than pairbonded men, controlling for fatherhood-related variables (ß = 11.74, SE = 4.33, P = 0.007). Change in T did not significantly differ for men who separated between the two surveys, relative to men who remained pairbonded throughout.
We found modest support for the prediction that men experience less of an age-related drop in T as their youngest child ages, a trend that might strengthen as children age further. We also replicate the finding that separated men have higher T, although longitudinal changes in the hormone were not significantly different in these men. Our data suggest that, of two life history transitions that may predict renewed mating effort, pair bond loss is more strongly endocrine mediated than potential mating effort shifts related to the aging of children.
跨文化研究表明，男性的睾丸素水平会随着伴侣关系和为人父母而下降，但对于理论上会导致重新交配努力的生活史转变过程中，睾丸素会发生什么变化，我们知之甚少。我们检验了男性的睾丸素是否会随着孩子年龄的增长（或随着年龄的增长下降幅度较小）而升高，或者在伴侣关系结束时，是否会升高，而与与育儿相关的变量（如与孩子同住）的变化无关。
我们使用了 2009 年和 2014 年在宿务纵向健康和营养调查（n = 571 名男性）中收集的人口统计学、行为和唾液激素数据（清醒和睡前睾丸素）。
与有年幼子女的男性相比，有年长子女的父亲在 2009 年至 2014 年间睡前睾丸素下降幅度较小，这与伴侣关系有关（β=1.58，SE=0.88，P=0.074）。与有育儿相关变量的已婚男性相比，离异男性的睡前睾丸素水平更高（β=11.74，SE=4.33，P=0.007）。在两次调查之间离异的男性与一直保持伴侣关系的男性相比，睾丸素的变化没有显著差异。
我们发现有一定的证据支持这样一种预测，即随着最小的孩子年龄的增长，男性的睾丸素水平与年龄相关的下降幅度会减小，这种趋势可能会随着孩子年龄的进一步增长而增强。我们还复制了离异男性睾丸素水平较高的发现，尽管这些男性的激素水平在纵向变化上没有显著差异。我们的数据表明，在可能预示着重新交配努力的两种生活史转变中，伴侣关系的丧失比与孩子衰老相关的潜在交配努力转变在激素上的介导作用更强。
