Table 3.

Effects of fatherhood on responses to stressors and anxiety-like behavior in males of biparental mammalian species.

Stressor/Test (interpretation)	Dependent Variable	Species	Effect of Fatherhood	Reference
Handling + 5-minute exposure to predator urine (acute stress response)	Plasma corticosterone	California mouse	No effect	39, 40
Handling + 5-minute exposure to predator urine (acute stress response)	Fos in PVNa CeAb, BNSTc	California mouse	No effect	101
Handling + 5-minute exposure to predator urine (acute stress response)	Behavior	California mouse	Decrease	39
Novel-object test (neophobia)	Behavior	California mouse	No effect	101
Novel-object open-field test (anxiety-like behavior)	Disruptions in patterning of behavior	California mouse	Decrease	102
3-minute exposure to TMTd (acute stress response)	Behavior	California mouse	No effect	102
Chronic variable stress paradigm (chronic stress response)	Plasma corticosterone	California mouse	No effect	46, 69
Chronic variable stress paradigm (chronic stress response)	CRHe mRNA and AVPf mRNA in PVN	California mouse	No effect	46
Elevated plus maze (anxiety-like behavior)	Behavior	Prairie vole	Decreased ratio of time in open arms to total time in arms; no other significant differences	93
Open-field test (anxiety-like behavior)	Behavior	Prairie vole	Increased time in corners of open field; no other significant differences	93
Forced-swim test (depression-like behavior)	Behavior	Prairie vole	Increased latency to immobility, number of immobility bouts, and duration of immobility (in fathers and mated males)	93

^aParaventricular nucleus of hypothalamus

^bCentral nucleus of amygdala

^cBed nucleus of stria terminalis

^d2,5-dihydro-2,4,5-trimethylthiazoline (component of fox feces)

^eCorticotropin-releasing hormone

^fVasopressin