Delaney J. Glass, Jessica Godwin, Josefin Koehn, Eleanna Bez, Margaret Corley, Rana Dajani, Kristin Hadfield, Catherine Panter-Brick, Claudia Valeggia, Melanie Martin
{"title":"Positive Cortisol–Testosterone Hormonal Coupling Among Adolescents in Argentina and Jordan","authors":"Delaney J. Glass, Jessica Godwin, Josefin Koehn, Eleanna Bez, Margaret Corley, Rana Dajani, Kristin Hadfield, Catherine Panter-Brick, Claudia Valeggia, Melanie Martin","doi":"10.1002/ajpa.70134","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div>\n \n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Objectives</h3>\n \n <p>Puberty is regulated by the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) and gonadal (HPG) axes. It has been proposed that if HPA and HPG coactivate during pubertal development, the hormones cortisol and testosterone would be positively coupled during puberty and decoupled postpuberty. Our objective was to test for hormonal coupling in less-studied, non-Western populations.</p>\n </section>\n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Materials and Methods</h3>\n \n <p>We analyzed longitudinal and cross-sectional data from marginalized populations: Indigenous Qom/Toba females in Argentina (<i>n</i> = 46, 777 urine samples) and Syrian/Jordanian youth (<i>n</i> = 768, dried blood spots). We used Bayesian hierarchical models to assess the hypothesis that cortisol and testosterone are positively coupled during puberty but decouple at later stages.</p>\n </section>\n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Results</h3>\n \n <p>We found positive, age-specific cortisol–testosterone coupling among adolescents in both populations, with patterns varying by age and sex. Coupling increased across pubertal ages but did not decline at older ages, contradicting the expectation that there is hormonal de-coupling.</p>\n </section>\n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Discussion</h3>\n \n <p>This is the first study to demonstrate positive cortisol–testosterone coupling across adolescence in two socio-ecologically distinct, non-Western populations. While hormonal decoupling was not observed, coupling patterns suggest population-level differences in pubertal timing. These findings challenge assumptions derived from Western-based research and underscore the need for global, context-sensitive models of adolescent development.</p>\n </section>\n </div>","PeriodicalId":29759,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Biological Anthropology","volume":"188 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0000,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ajpa.70134","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"American Journal of Biological Anthropology","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajpa.70134","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ANTHROPOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objectives
Puberty is regulated by the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) and gonadal (HPG) axes. It has been proposed that if HPA and HPG coactivate during pubertal development, the hormones cortisol and testosterone would be positively coupled during puberty and decoupled postpuberty. Our objective was to test for hormonal coupling in less-studied, non-Western populations.
Materials and Methods
We analyzed longitudinal and cross-sectional data from marginalized populations: Indigenous Qom/Toba females in Argentina (n = 46, 777 urine samples) and Syrian/Jordanian youth (n = 768, dried blood spots). We used Bayesian hierarchical models to assess the hypothesis that cortisol and testosterone are positively coupled during puberty but decouple at later stages.
Results
We found positive, age-specific cortisol–testosterone coupling among adolescents in both populations, with patterns varying by age and sex. Coupling increased across pubertal ages but did not decline at older ages, contradicting the expectation that there is hormonal de-coupling.
Discussion
This is the first study to demonstrate positive cortisol–testosterone coupling across adolescence in two socio-ecologically distinct, non-Western populations. While hormonal decoupling was not observed, coupling patterns suggest population-level differences in pubertal timing. These findings challenge assumptions derived from Western-based research and underscore the need for global, context-sensitive models of adolescent development.