Prenatal and postnatal cortisol and testosterone are related to parental caregiving quality in fathers, but not in mothers

The quality of parental caregiving is a critical factor in a child ’s cognitive and social-emotional development, with insensitive caregiving practices increasing the risk for developing various types of psychopathology (Gilbert et al., 2009; Keyes et al., 2012; Morris et al., 2013; Pechtel and Pizzagalli, 2011). It is therefore of great importance to understand the underlying factors that bring forth variation in parents’ caregiving quality, including endocrine factors (Bos, 2017; Feldman, 2015; Rilling, 2013).

Source: Psychoneuroendocrinology - July 9, 2018 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Peter A. Bos, Christine Hechler, Roseriet Beijers, Kazuyuki Shinohar, Gianluca Esposito, Carolina de Weerth Source Type: research