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National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

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Publication Detail

Title: Prenatal sex hormones and behavioral outcomes in children.

Authors: Day, Drew B; Collett, Brent R; Barrett, Emily S; Bush, Nicole R; Swan, Shanna H; Wang, Christina; Sathyanarayana, Sheela; TIDES Study team

Published In Psychoneuroendocrinology, (2020 03)

Abstract: Abnormal sex hormone levels in utero have been associated with child behavioral problems, but it is unclear if normal variation in prenatal sex hormones is associated with subsequent behavior in childhood. We assessed maternal sex hormones, including serum estrone (E1), estradiol (E2), estriol (E3), free testosterone (FT), and total testosterone (TT), during early pregnancy (gestational week 6-21 (mean = 11.1)) and evaluated child behavior at ages 4-5 using the Behavioral Assessment System for Children (BASC-2) and Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS-2) in 404 mother/child pairs (211 girls, 193 boys) within The Infant Development and Environment Study, a multi-site pregnancy cohort study. Associations between hormones and composite scores were evaluated using multiple linear regressions in both sexes combined, and separate models assessed effect modification by sex with the addition of interaction terms. A 10-fold increase in maternal FT or TT was associated in both sexes with a 4.3-point (95 % CI: 0.5, 8.2) or 4.4-point (0.8, 8.0) higher BASC-2 internalizing composite T score, respectively. In addition, a 10-fold increase in FT or TT was associated with a 3.8-point (0.04, 7.5) or 4.0-point (0.5, 7.5) higher behavioral symptoms index composite score. In models evaluating effect modification by sex, a 10-fold increase in E1 was associated with a 4.3-point (1.2, 7.4) decrease in adaptive skills composite score in girls only (interaction p = 0.04). We observed associations between testosterone and internalizing behaviors and behavioral symptoms index in both sexes, as well as a female-specific association between E1 and adaptive skills. Sex hormones during pregnancy may play a key role in influencing later-life behavior, and additional studies should further examine different periods of susceptibility to hormonal signals.

PubMed ID: 31901731 Exiting the NIEHS site

MeSH Terms: Adult; Child Behavior/drug effects; Child Behavior/physiology*; Child Behavior/psychology; Child Development/drug effects*; Child, Preschool; Cohort Studies; Estradiol/analysis; Estradiol/blood; Estriol/analysis; Estriol/blood; Estrone/analysis; Estrone/blood; Female; Gonadal Steroid Hormones/adverse effects*; Gonadal Steroid Hormones/blood; Humans; Male; Neurodevelopmental Disorders/etiology; Neurodevelopmental Disorders/metabolism; Pregnancy; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects/metabolism; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects/physiopathology; Problem Behavior/psychology; Testosterone/analysis; Testosterone/blood

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