Androgens and Gender Role Behaviour in Girls with Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH)

Androgen and psychosexual development: Core gender identity, sexual orientation, and recalled childhood gender role behavior in women and men with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH)

“…Most studies of childhood play suggest no differences from males without CAH (Berenbaum & Hines, 1992;Ehrhardt & Baker, 1974). Although one study reported reduced male-typical play (Slijper, 1984), this was seen only in comparison to unrelated boys, not when boys with CAH were compared to unaffected brothers. A second study found reduced male-typical rough-and-tumble play in boys with CAH (Hines & Kaufman, 1994), but the same boys did not show alterations in preferences for male playmates (Hines & Kaufman, 1994) or in toy preferences (Berenbaum & Hines, 1992).…”

Prenatal Hormones and Postnatal Socialization by Parents as Determinants of Male‐Typical Toy Play in Girls With Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia

“…These behavioral changes may involve a range of sex-typical behaviors, such as sexual orientation, aggression, interest in infants, and specific cognitive abilities (Collaer & Hines, 1995;Hines, 2004;Hines, Fane, Pasterski, Conway, & Brook, 2003). However, the clearest and most consistent influences have been seen for childhood gender role behaviors, including toy choices, playmate preferences, and activity preferences (Berenbaum & Hines, 1992;Dittmann et al, 1990;Ehrhardt & Baker, 1974;Ehrhardt, Evers, & Money, 1968;Slijper, 1984;Zucker et al, 1996), and this masculinized pattern of behavior appears to be more dramatic in the more severe form of the disorder (Dittman et al, 1990;Nö rdenstrom, Servin, Bohlin, Larsson, & Wedell, 2002). Ehrhardt and Baker (1974) reported that girls with CAH were more likely to be labeled by themselves and others as ''tomboys,'' to like boys' toys and boys' clothes, and to prefer boys as playmates.…”

Development and familiality of sexual orientation in females

“…Influences on the developing brain are also believed to occur but are not well understood . However, a "masculine" pattern of gender-role behavior has been reported for CAH patients in several studies (Money and Ehrhardt, 1972 ;Ehrhardt, 1979 ;Ehrhardt and Meyer-Bahlburg, 1981 ;Slijper, 1984) . Furthermore, recent studies focusing on adult psychosexual development and sexual orientation indicate that females with CAH have significantly higher rates of homosexual orientation, behavior, and fantasy coupled with lower rates of heterosexual activity compared to their nonaffected sisters (Dittman et al, 1990a(Dittman et al, , b, 1992 .…”