Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T20:07:02.475Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

MATERNAL ACTIVITY DURING PREGNANCY AND SEXUALLY DIMORPHIC TRAITS IN OFFSPRING

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 April 2017

Lee Ellis ,
Russell Eisenman  and
Anthony Hoskin
Lee Ellis*
Affiliation:
Minot State University, Minot, ND, USA
Russell Eisenman
Affiliation:
University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Edinburg, TX, USA
Anthony Hoskin
Affiliation:
Idaho State University, Pocatello, ID, USA
*
1Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Studies have found positive correlations between prenatal exposure to testosterone and masculinization of offspring traits, particularly among females. The present study sought to determine if physical or sexual activity by the mother during pregnancy was related to masculinized/defeminized offspring traits in adulthood. Data were obtained from a large sample of North American college students (offspring) and their mothers. Information about maternal activity levels during pregnancy were reported retrospectively by each mother. The offspring provided self-ratings of various sexually dimorphic traits. Several significant correlations were found. By and large, as maternal physical activity increased, feminine mannerisms decreased and masculine mannerisms increased in the offspring, particularly for females. Maternal physical activity was also associated with increased upper- and lower-body strength and especially with adult height among offspring. Sexual activity by the mother was only associated with upper-body strength and adult height, particularly of the female offspring. Several sexually dimorphic physical traits in offspring are associated with maternal activity levels during pregnancy. Prenatal testosterone is almost certainly involved. The associations could either reflect genetic influences (given that prenatal testosterone is highly heritable) or an effect of maternal testosterone being transferred to the developing fetus. More research is needed to assess the relative merit of these two possibilities.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 50 , Issue 1 , January 2018 , pp. 114 - 123
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press, 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Barona, M., Kothari, R., Skuse, D. & Micali, N. (2015) Social communication and emotion difficulties and second to fourth digit ratio in a large community-based sample. Molecular Autism 6, doi: 10.1186/s13229-13015-10063-13227.Google Scholar
Buka, S. L., Goldstein, J. M., Spartos, E. & Tsuang, M. T. (2004) The retrospective measurement of prenatal and perinatal events: accuracy of maternal recall. Schizophrenia Research 71, 417–426.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eliakim, A., Brasel, J. A., Mohan, S., Wong, W. L. T. & Cooper, D. M. (1998) Increased physical activity and the growth hormone-IGF-I axis in adolescent males. American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology 275, R308–R314.Google Scholar
Ellis, L., Hershberger, S., Field, E., Wersinger, S., Pellis, S., Geary, D. et al. (2008) Sex Differences: Summarizing More Than a Century of Scientific Research. Psychology Press, New York.Google Scholar
Gitau, R., Adams, D., Fisk, N. & Glover, V. (2005) Fetal plasma testosterone correlates positively with cortisol. Archives of Disease in Childhood – Fetal and Neonatal Edition 90, F166–F169.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hegaard, H. K., Pedersen, B. K., Bruun Nielsen, B. & Damm, P. (2007) Leisure time physical activity during pregnancy and impact on gestational diabetes mellitus, pre‐eclampsia, preterm delivery and birth weight: a review. Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica 86, 1290–1296.Google Scholar
Hodges-Simeon, C. R., Gaulin, S. J. & Puts, D. A. (2011) Voice correlates of mating success in men: examining “contests” versus “mate choice” modes of sexual selection. Archives of Sexual Behavior 40, 551–557.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hönekopp, J., Manning, J. T. & Müller, C. (2006) Digit ratio (2D:4D) and physical fitness in males and females: evidence for effects of prenatal androgens on sexually selected traits. Hormones and Behavior 49, 545–549.Google Scholar
Hönekopp, J. & Watson, S. (2010) Meta‐analysis of digit ratio 2D: 4D shows greater sex difference in the right hand. American Journal of Human Biology 22, 619–630.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
James, W. H. (2014) An update on the hypothesis that one cause of autism is high intrauterine levels of testosterone of maternal origin. Journal of Theoretical Biology 355, 33–39.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Melzer, K., Schutz, Y., Boulvain, M. & Kayser, B. (2010) Physical activity and pregnancy. Sports Medicine 40, 493–507.Google Scholar
Oken, E., Ning, Y., Rifas-Shiman, S. L., Radesky, J. S., Rich-Edwards, J. W. & Gillman, M. W. (2006) Associations of physical activity and inactivity before and during pregnancy with glucose tolerance. Obstetrics and Gynecology 108, 1200–1207.Google Scholar
Owe, K. M., Nystad, W. & Bø, K. (2009) Association between regular exercise and excessive newborn birth weight. Obstetrics & Gynecology 114, 770–776.Google Scholar
Palomba, S., Marotta, R., Di Cello, A., Russo, T., Falbo, A., Orio, F. & Sala, G. B. L. (2012) Pervasive developmental disorders in children of hyperandrogenic women with polycystic ovary syndrome: a longitudinal case-control study. Clinical Endocrinology 77, 898–904.Google Scholar
Paul, S. N., Kato, B. S., Cherkas, L. F., Andrew, T. & Spector, T. D. (2006) Heritability of the second to fourth digit ratio (2d:4d): a twin study. Twin Research and Human Genetics 9, 215–219.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Qi, L., Liu, J., Zhang, Y., Wang, J., Yang, M., Gong, T. & Du, Y. (2013) Risk factors for non‐syndromic oral clefts: a matched case-control study in Hubei Province, China. Oral Diseases, doi: 10.1111/odi.12200.Google Scholar
Rao, S., Kanade, A., Margetts, B., Yajnik, C., Lubree, H., Rege, S. & Fall, C. (2003) Maternal activity in relation to birth size in rural India. The Pune Maternal Nutrition Study. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 57, 531–542.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sallis, J. F., Prochaska, J. J. & Taylor, W. C. (2000) A review of correlates of physical activity of children and adolescents. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 32, 963–975.Google Scholar
Sarkar, P., Bergman, K., Fisk, N., O’Connor, T. & Glover, V. (2007) Amniotic fluid testosterone: relationship with cortisol and gestational age. Clinical Endocrinology 67, 743–747.Google Scholar
Shephard, R. J. (2003) Limits to the measurement of habitual physical activity by questionnaires. British Journal of Sports Medicine 37, 197–206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Szwed, A., Kosinska, M. & Manning, J. T. (2017) Digit ratio (2D:4D) and month of birth: a link to the solstitial-melatonin-testosterone effect. Early Human Development 104, 23–26.Google Scholar
Ventura, T., Gomes, M., Pita, A., Neto, M. & Taylor, A. (2013) Digit ratio (2D:4D) in newborns: influences of prenatal testosterone and maternal environment. Early Human Development 89, 107–112.Google Scholar
Voracek, M. & Dressler, S. G. (2007) Digit ratio (2D: 4D) in twins: heritability estimates and evidence for a masculinized trait expression in women from opposite-sex pairs. Psychological Reports 100, 115–126.Google Scholar
Wells, J. C. (2007) Sexual dimorphism of body composition. Best Practice & Research: Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism 21, 415–430.Google Scholar
Yawn, B. P., Suman, V. J. & Jacobsen, S. J. (1998) Maternal recall of distant pregnancy events. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology 51, 399–405.Google Scholar