Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/63504
Title: The digit ratio (2D:4D) and testosterone co-predict vertical jump performance in athletic boys: Evidence of organizational and activational effects of testosterone on physical fitness
Contributor(s): Crewther, Blair T  (author); Pastuszak, Anna (author); Sadowska, Dorota (author); Gorski, Michal (author); Cook, Christian J  (author)orcid 
Publication Date: 2022
Early Online Version: 2022
Open Access: Yes
DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2022.113816
Handle Link: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/63504
Abstract: 

The digit ratio (2D:4D) is a negative correlate of boy's physical fitness, and thought to arise from organizational effects of prenatal testosterone on different bodily systems. During human ontogeny, activational effects of testosterone on body size and strength offers another pathway to physical fitness. We tested these hypotheses by examining the organizational and activational effects of testosterone on vertical jump performance in athletic boys. Using a cross-sectional design, 173 boys (aged 9 to 18 years) were tested for standing height, body mass, body fat, fat-free mass, weekly training activity, training history, salivary testosterone and cortisol, R2D:4D, L2D:4D, and right-left 2D:4D (Dr-1), and vertical height in 3 different countermovement jump (CMJ) tests. A generalized additive model was employed to delineate age-related trajectories and predict CMJ performance. Our models yielded significant non-linear increases (or changes) in body size, current hormone concentration, training outcomes, and CMJ performance with chronological age. All 2D:4D measures were age invariant. The R2D:4D and testosterone were significant non-linear predictors of CMJ height with (R2 = 66.2%) or without (R2 = 54.3%) covariates, whereby a higher current testosterone concentration (up to a certain level) and a lower or higher R2D:4D were linked to better performance. The L2D:4D and Dr-1 had no predictive value. In conclusion, the R2D:4D and testosterone were co-predictors of CMJ height among athletic boys, with non-linear performance effects that differed in timing, tempo, and direction. Our findings confirm that testosterone can regulate a simple measure of boy's physical fitness through both an activational and organizational pathway.

Publication Type: Journal Article
Source of Publication: Physiology & Behavior, v.251, p. 1-8
Publisher: Elsevier Inc
Place of Publication: United States of America
ISSN: 1873-507X
0031-9384
Fields of Research (FoR) 2020: 3209 Neurosciences
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2020: tbd
Peer Reviewed: Yes
HERDC Category Description: C1 Refereed Article in a Scholarly Journal
Appears in Collections:Journal Article
School of Science and Technology

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