title: Latent trait testosterone among 18-24 year olds: Methodological considerations and risk associations.
abstract: The study investigated the relationship between latent trait testosterone (LTT) and risk-taking among 126 youth (M age=21.34years; 56% female; 52% African American). Latent state-trait (LST) modeling isolates observed variance of samples via their correlations into (1) a latent trait testosterone (LTT) factor capturing individual differences, and (2) a component of state testosterone factor (LST) capturing state-specific situational or environmental influences and random error variances. Participants provided four laboratory (20min apart) and four home (waking, 20-min post-waking, noon, evening) salivary samples (later assayed for testosterone). Participants reported risk-taking tendencies and behaviors via an Audio Computer Assisted Self-Interview. Behavioral risk was measured using the Balloon Analog Risk Task. Results revealed: (1) LTT model invariance (operated similarly) for females and males; (2) LTT accounted for 18-89% (home samples) and 61-95% (lab samples) of the variance in testosterone levels, and (3) LTT was associated with risk-seeking behaviors and the strength of this association was similar across males and females. LST Modeling has potential to advance our understanding of testosterone-behavior associations to new limits by estimating stable trait-like components of the variance in testosterone levels.
authors: College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services, Evaluation Services Center, University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, OH 45221-0175, USA; Department of Population, Family, and Reproductive Health, The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. Electronic address: jacinda.dariotis@uc.edu.
authors: Jacinda K
authors: JK
authors: Dariotis
authors: Department of Criminology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors: Frances R
authors: FR
authors: Chen
authors: Department of Population, Family, and Reproductive Health, The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Institute for Interdisciplinary Salivary Bioscience Research Arizona State University Tempe, AZ 85287-3604, USA; Department of Acute and Chronic Care, Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing & Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA; Salivary Bioscience Laboratory and Department of psychology, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588, USA.
authors: Douglas A
authors: DA
authors: Granger
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012463:Saliva / Q000378:metabolism; D013739:Testosterone / Q000378:metabolism*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D013739:Testosterone
keywords: Latent trait; Risk-taking; Salivary testosterone; Trait; Youth