Maternal Age and Behavior during Pregnancy Affect the 2D:4D Digit Ratio in Polish Children Aged 6-13 Years.

Abstract

Simple SummaryThe digit ratio (2D:4D) is a marker of prenatal exposure to sex hormones. It is also correlated with many somatic, cognitive, and behavioral traits. The current study examined whether maternal age, health, and lifestyle during pregnancy affect 2D:4D in school-age children of both sexes. The material consisted of digit measurements and questionnaire results for 1219 children (573 boys and 646 girls) aged 6–13 years. The right hand digit ratio in both boys and girls was found to be positively correlated with maternal smoking and negatively with maternal work during pregnancy. Maternal age at childbirth was negatively related to right hand 2D:4D, but only in daughters. These findings suggest that the digit ratio in offspring may be correlated not only with prenatal sex hormone levels, but also with 2D:4D heritability associated with maternal behavior.Background: The length of the second and fourth finger calculated as a ratio (2D:4D) is a marker of prenatal exposure to sex hormones. Higher exposure to testosterone is related to a lower 2D:4D digit ratio, and inversely, higher exposure to estrogen is related to a higher 2D:4D. The digit ratio in humans (prenatally determined by sex hormone levels and androgen receptor activity) is associated with multiple biological, cognitive, and behavioral traits, as well as health in later life. The aim of this study was to verify if maternal traits during pregnancy are associated with 2D:4D among their children. Methods: We investigated 537 boys, 646 girls, and their mothers. The investigation consisted of a questionnaire and a measurement part. In the questionnaire, we included questions about maternal traits during pregnancy such as: illnesses, active and passive smoking, work activity, psychological trauma (death or serious illness of a loved one, divorce, job loss), and age. We performed length measurements of the second and fourth fingers on both hands for both study groups. Results: The GLM analysis showed that children of smoking mothers were characterized by a higher 2D:4D R as compared to their peers whose mothers did not smoke (β = 0.10, p = 0.0008). In turn, the offspring of women who worked during pregnancy exhibited lower 2D:4D R values than the children of women who did not work (β = −0.07, p = 0.0233). It should be noted, however, that the effects of those maternal factors were small, as each of them explained less than 1% of 2D:4D R in the population, adjusted for child age and sex. Pearson’s linear correlation revealed that maternal age was negatively correlated with 2D:4D R in daughters (r = −0.11, p = 0.0137), but not in sons (r = 0.02, p = 0.6908). The negative correlation of 2D:4D R with maternal age indicates that the daughters of older mothers exhibited lower values of that ratio relative to the same-age daughters of younger mothers. Conclusions: For both study groups, the right-hand digit ratio was positively correlated with maternal smoking and negatively with maternal work during pregnancy. Maternal age during pregnancy was negatively related to right hand 2D:4D only among girls.