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Prenatal testosterone exposure is associated with delay of gratification and attention problems/overactive behavior in 3-year-old boys
- Source :
- Psychoneuroendocrinology. 104
- Publication Year :
- 2018
-
Abstract
- Sex differences in self-control become apparent during preschool years. Girls are better able to delay their gratification and show less attention problems and overactive behavior than boys. In this context, organizational effects of gonadal steroids affecting the neural circuitry underlying self-control could be responsible for these early sex differences. In the present study testosterone levels measured in amniotic fluid (via ultra performance liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry) were used to examine the role of organizational sex hormones on self-control. One hundred and twenty-two 40-month-old children participated in a delay of gratification task (DoG task) and their parents reported on their attention problems and overactive behavior. Girls waited significantly longer for their preferred reward than boys, and significantly more girls than boys waited the maximum period of time, providing evidence for sex differences in delay of gratification. Boys that were rated as suffering from more attention problems and overactive behavior waited significantly shorter in the DoG task. Amniotic testosterone measures were reliable in boys only. Most importantly, boys who waited shorter in the DoG task and boys who were reported to suffer from more attention problems and overactive behavior had higher prenatal testosterone levels. These findings extend our knowledge concerning organizational effects of testosterone on the brain circuitry underlying self-control in boys, and are of relevance for understanding how sex differences in behavioral disorders are connected with a lack of self-control.
- Subjects :
- Male
Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism
media_common.quotation_subject
Context (language use)
Developmental psychology
03 medical and health sciences
0302 clinical medicine
Endocrinology
Attention Problems
Reward
Pregnancy
medicine
Humans
Attention
Testosterone
Biological Psychiatry
media_common
Sex Characteristics
medicine.diagnostic_test
Gratification
Endocrine and Autonomic Systems
Testosterone (patch)
Self-control
Delay of gratification
Amniotic Fluid
030227 psychiatry
Psychiatry and Mental health
Delay Discounting
Child, Preschool
Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects
Amniocentesis
Female
Psychology
030217 neurology & neurosurgery
Brain circuitry
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 18733360
- Volume :
- 104
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Psychoneuroendocrinology
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....5f5bb0743a61fe7631a658226a3813b2