Low Testosterone Dads

March 7, 2014

Low testosterone may be associated with parental involvement in fathers.

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Transcript

BOB HIRSHON (host):

Low testosterone dads. I’m Bob Hirshon and this is Science Update.

New fathers undergo hormonal changes, including a drop in levels of testosterone, according to Notre Dame anthropologist Lee Gettler, speaking at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

LEE GETTLER:

And we’re also able to look at their day-to-day involvement with their children. And so we found that men who perform the most day to day childcare in a sort of hands on, physically caring way tend to have lower testosterone than fathers who report no involvement in those kind of activities.

HIRSHON:

Gettler says that low testosterone doesn’t mean “less masculine.”

GETTLER:

If you ask many fathers whether taking care of their kids and helping to provide for their family’s an important component of what makes them a man, or a good man, I think many would say “yes.”

HIRSHON:

He and his team are now looking at babies, mothers and fathers together as a system, and factors affecting the child’s emotional development. I’m Bob Hirshon, for AAAS, the science society.