Parent and offspring strategies in the transition at adolescence

Abstract

Adolescence signifies a transition from the use of prereproductive to reproductive strategies in the life history of Homo sapiens. Insofar as human generations overlap, events at adolescence, surrounding the onset of puberty, offer a unique glimpse into human adaptation from the point of view of the changing strategies of both parents and offspring. The timing of puberty is an important life history trait that varies between species, but also between and within the sexes in human beings. The onset of puberty marks the beginning of the reproductive life, is affected by previous experience, and serves as a trigger for behavioral change. Surbey (1988, 1990) reported relationships between father absence, heightened levels of childhood stress, and early menarche and considered them within the context of human evolutionary history. Subsequently, similar findings have been reported in a number of human populations and have been interpreted from several evolutionary perspectives. This article discusses the extent to which these and related findings regarding alterations in the timing of human puberty reflect evolved parental or offspring strategies. It entails a consideration of the applicability of the concepts of phenotypic plasticity, nonadaptive genetic variation, and conditional and alternative reproductive strategies in describing the interwoven nature of strategies employed by parent and child in the transition at adolescence.

The Strategies of the Genes: Genomic Conflicts, Attachment Theory, and Development of the Social Brain

“…Such a prediction is broadly compatible with maternal imprintedgene biases, and their correlates, being differentially associated with higher schizophrenia risk (Crespi 2008a;Crespi and Badcock 2008), but additional, targetted tests are required for robust evaluation. More generally, evolutionary theory provides clear, specific predictions regarding the presence and causes of conflicts within families (Emlen 1995(Emlen , 1997Surbey 1998), which underpin and complement psychodynamic and socioeconomic perspectives on such conflicts, as well as providing a basis for understanding conflicts within the minds of normal 'individuals', and those beset with such conditions as schizophrenia or depression Haig 2006b;Badcock 2009). As Laing and Esterson (1970, p. 12) inquired, 'are the experiences and behaviour that psychiatrists take as symptoms and signs of schizophrenia more socially intelligible than has come to be supposed?…”

Genomic imprinting and the evolutionary psychology of human kinship

“…Relations with parents during adolescence are often perceived by young persons as a conflict between their desire for autonomy and parental attempts to control their choices (69). Parents often perceive the adolescent as self-absorbed and as neglecting responsibilities to family.…”

Family relationships in childhood, pubertal timing, and subsequent reproductive strategies among adolescents

“…With respect to father absence, Surbey (1998) found in her retrospective study of women that girls who grow up with father absence and with high levels of stress in childhood experience menarche at an earlier age. Bogaert (2005) also retrospectively investigated the relations between father absence and pubertal timing in women and men.…”