Father Involvement, Reproductive Strategies, and the Sensitive Period

Blain, Jenny; Barkow, Jerome H.

doi:10.1007/978-1-4612-3760-0_13

Cited by 14 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 23 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Warm parentchild relationships are characteristic of a wide range of human societies at very different levels of economic development and social organization. Significantly, parent-child (and husband-wife) affection as well as paternal involvement in child rearing (rather than sibling rearing) are characteristic of societies in which the nuclear family is the norm (Blain & Barkow, 1988;Draper & Harpending, 1988;Katz & Konner, 1976;Weisner, 1984). Nuclear family social structure occurs among many economically advanced human societies (e.g., industrialized Western and Westernized societies) as well as among many economically primitive foraging societies (e.g., the !Kung of Africa) viewed by many anthropologists (e.g., Lee, 1979) as exhibiting the prototypical human social organization.…”

mentioning

confidence: 95%

Warmth as a Developmental Construct: An Evolutionary Analysis

MacDonald¹

1992

Child Development

283

190

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

mentioning

confidence: 95%

Warmth as a Developmental Construct: An Evolutionary Analysis

MacDonald¹

1992

Child Development

283

190

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Because Hetherington (1972) and Draper and Harpending (1982) suggest that the first 5 years of life constitute a sensitive period for the effects of father absence on daughters' sexual development, early onset of father absence was defined in this study as absence of the "birth father" (either the biological father or an adoptive father present from birth) from the home at or before age 5. This cutoff was also chosen to allow comparison with past studies, which have commonly defined early father absence as occurring in the first 5 years (e.g., Bereczkei & Csanaky, 1996;Blain & Barkow, 1988;Hetherington, 1972). Girls were thus classified as early father absent if they were either born into single-mother families or born into intact two-parent families but subsequently experienced birth father absence at or before age 5.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Does Father Absence Place Daughters at Special Risk for Early Sexual Activity and Teenage Pregnancy?

Ellis¹,

Bates²,

Dodge³

et al. 2003

Child Development

450

358

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The impact of father absence on early sexual activity and teenage pregnancy was investigated in longitudinal studies in the United States (N = 242) and New Zealand (N = 520), in which community samples of girls were followed prospectively from early in life (5 years) to approximately age 18. Greater exposure to father absence was strongly associated with elevated risk for early sexual activity and adolescent pregnancy. This elevated risk was either not explained (in the U.S. study) or only partly explained (in the New Zealand study) by familial, ecological, and personal disadvantages associated with father absence. After controlling for covariates, there was stronger and more consistent evidence of effects of father absence on early sexual activity and teenage pregnancy than on other behavioral or mental health problems or academic achievement Effects of father absence are discussed in terms of life-course adversity, evolutionary psychology, social learning, and behavior genetic models.In modern Western societies, adolescent girls face a biosocial dilemma. On the one hand, the biological capacity to reproduce ordinarily develops in early adolescence; on the other hand, girls who realize this capacity before adulthood often experience a variety of negative life outcomes. Specifically, adolescent childbearing is associated with lower educational and occupational attainment, more mental and physical health problems, inadequate social support networks for parenting, and increased risk of abuse and neglect for children born to teen mothers (e.g., Furstenberg, Brooks-Gunn, & Chase-Lansdale, 1989;Konner & Shostak, 1986;Woodward & Fergusson, 1999). Despite these consequences, the United States and New Zealand have the first and second highest rates of teenage pregnancy among Western Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Bruce Ellis, Department of Psychology, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, New Zealand. bruce.ellis@canterbury.ac.nz. NIH Public Access Author ManuscriptChild Dev. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2009 October 20. Published in final edited form as:Child Dev. 2003 ; 74(3): 801-821. NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript industrialized countries. Approximately 10% of girls in the United States and 7% of girls in New Zealand between the ages of 15 and 19 years become pregnant each year, with around half of these pregnancies culminating in a live birth (Cheesbrough, Ingham, & Massey, 1999;Dickson, Sporle, Rimene, & Paul, 2000). Given these costs to adolescents and their children, it is critical to identify life experiences and pathways that place girls at increased risk for early sexual activity and adolescent pregnancy.Many studies have identified the absence of the biological father from the home as a major risk factor for both early sexual activity (e.g., Day, 1992;Kiernan & Hobcraft, 1997;Newcomber & Udry, 1987) and teenage pregnancy (e.g., Geronimus & Korenman, 1992;Hogan & Kitagawa, 1985;McLanahan, 1999). This f...

show abstract

“…Participants were classified as experiencing early father absence if they were either born into a single mother family or born into an intact two-parent family, but subsequently experienced father absence at or before the age of 5. We chose this cut-off to allow comparison with studies done in the past, which have also defined 'early father absence' as occurring in the first 5 years (Bereczkei & Csanaky, 1996;Blain & Barkow, 1988;Ellis et al, 2003;Hetherington, 1972). Late father absence was defined as growing up without the biological father at home beginning during ages 6 through 13.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does father abandonment have consequences for the reproductive strategies of girls? A study in Curaçao

Brummen-Girigori

Buunk

2015

Evolution, Mind and Behaviour

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. The present research examined the consequences of father abandonment for the reproductive strategies of girls from the Caribbean island of Curaçao. The sample consisted of 189 girls with an average age of 19.11 (SD = 2.97). Respondents were categorized in three groups, namely: 'early father absence' (abandoned between 0-5 years of age), 'late father absence' (abandoned between 6-13 years of age) and 'father presence' (father present during childhood). The results showed that compared to 'late father absence' girls and 'father presence' girls, 'early father absence' girls initiated sexual intercourse at a significant younger age. Moreover, they were less interested in getting married and in having grandchildren. These differences could not be explained by differences in educational level of the participants or occupational level of the father and the mother. There were no significant differences between the three groups in the age of menarche, the total number of sexual partners and the desire to have children. From an evolutionary life history perspective, we discuss possible explanations for, and implications of, these findings.

show abstract

Father Involvement, Reproductive Strategies, and the Sensitive Period

Cited by 14 publications

References 23 publications

Warmth as a Developmental Construct: An Evolutionary Analysis

Warmth as a Developmental Construct: An Evolutionary Analysis

Does Father Absence Place Daughters at Special Risk for Early Sexual Activity and Teenage Pregnancy?

Does father abandonment have consequences for the reproductive strategies of girls? A study in Curaçao

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About