Fathering behavior, attachment, and engagement in childcare predict testosterone and cortisol
Ahnert et al.
The finding, in our words
Fathers who self-collected saliva at home showed that greater engagement in childcare, particularly cuddling, was associated with a more pronounced diurnal decline in testosterone and lower cortisol levels. This demonstrates saliva sampling can capture behaviourally relevant hormone changes, supporting its use for decentralised monitoring of stress and reproductive hormones.
A paraphrase to the Library’s standard, never the abstract. The source is one link away and is always the authority.
In a study of 46 perinatal nicotine users, dried blood spots and saliva were used weekly to measure reproductive hormones, finding that lower postpartum estradiol and greater peripartum declines in oxytocin were associated with increased nicotine craving and use. This demonstrates the feasibility of decentralised microsampling and remote surveys for longitudinal hormone tracking in vulnerable populations.
Allen et al., Drug and alcohol dependence reports (paywalled) · source ↗
In women with endometriosis, longer individual exercise sessions were associated with lower levels of salivary c-reactive protein and estradiol, as well as reduced pain and fat mass. The results demonstrate the utility of timed, at-home saliva self-collection for assessing systemic biomarkers in reproductive health research.
Self-collected saliva cortisol and cortisone showed good correlation with free, non-protein-bound serum concentrations across a pregnancy cycle, supporting saliva as a decentralised surrogate for monitoring free glucocorticosteroid levels. Plasma protein binding of cortisone decreased from 86.3 per cent to 80.7 per cent during pregnancy while cortisol binding remained stable at approximately 96 per cent.
Krumbholz et al., Forensic science international (paywalled) · source ↗
Afternoon salivary cortisol concentrations were significantly higher when collected in the laboratory than when self-collected at home, indicating that collection setting materially influences results. No significant differences were found across menstrual cycle phases or by relationship status, suggesting these factors do not confound basal cortisol measurements in healthy women.
Wilson et al., Women's reproductive health (paywalled) · source ↗
This study used home self-collected saliva samples to successfully monitor cytokines and cortisol in mothers and infants, finding that a community singing intervention significantly reduced salivary interleukin-6 levels in mothers with postnatal depression.
Kirkpatrick et al., Brain, behavior, and immunity (paywalled) · source ↗