Testosterone and behavior in normal young children

Testosterone affects the behavior of adults, but little is known about how it might affect the behavior of children. The few available studies of children have focused on aggression, hyperactivity and other behavior disorders. The present study involved 37 normal children, 15 boys and 22 girls. Of these, 25 were prepubertal, age 3-8, and 12 were at the early stages of puberty, age 9-12. The children provided saliva samples for testosterone assay and their parents rated them on moodiness, attachment, sociability, hyperactivity/distractiblity and adaptability. Overall, testosterone was associated with high moodiness and low attachment. Testosterone was also associated with low sociability, but only in the prepubertal group. It appears that testosterone is related to independent and unsociable behavior in very young children and that this relation is moderated by the approach and onset of adolescence. Additional research is needed on causal relations between testosterone and behavior in children and on how early childhood testosterone levels might contribute to later adult behavior. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.