ANDROGEN AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN SEX-TYPICAL BEHAVIOR - ROUGH-AND-TUMBLE PLAY AND SEX OF PREFERRED PLAYMATES IN CHILDREN WITH CONGENITAL ADRENAL-HYPERPLASIA (CAH)

We hypothesized that girls with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), who experience higher than normal levels of androgens prenatally, woul d show masculinization of behaviors that show sex differences. Therefo re, we examined rough-and-tumble play and sex of preferred playmates i n 3-8-year-old children with CAH and in unaffected 3-8-year-old male a nd female relatives. The hypothesized sex differences in rough-and-tum ble play were seen, with unaffected boys showing more rough-and-tumble play than unaffected girls. However, CAH girls were similar to unaffe cted girls. Additionally, CAH boys showed reduced rough-and-tumble pla y. In contrast, sex of preferred playmates showed the hypothesized pat tern of results. There were sex differences, with unaffected boys pref erring boys and unaffected girls preferring girls. In addition, the pr eferences of girls with CAH were masculinized compared to those of una ffected girls. Results are discussed in terms of possible influences o f social, hormonal, and illness factors.