Jump to content

User talk:Ljccrim/sandbox

Page contents not supported in other languages.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

/FULL

[edit]

Parental separation may affect the child’s development. Early parental divorce (during primary school) has been associated with greater internalising and externalising behaviour problems in the child, while later divorce may dampen academic performance. Children to unmarried parents tend to suffer greater emotional and social difficulties than others do.

Whereas father absence mainly result from parental divorce and separation[1][2], other factors such as family poverty, mixed or Black (compared to White) ethnicity have also been linked to the a greater likelihood of the father being absent when the child is 3 years old[3].

Problems

[edit]

General Problems

[edit]

Despite limited conclusiveness among researchers regarding the exact significance of fathering [4], fathers are traditionally deemed a provider of protection and support for the child’s development [5]. Through a number of pathways, father absence may influence child behaviour especially in early and middle childhood [6][7]. These include a decline in household income and ineffective parenting arisen from continued conflicts and psychological distress [1].

Total difficulties & specific difficulties

[edit]

In regard to the effects of father absence, a recent British study [3] assessed child problem behaviour on over 15,000 families using the clinical cut-offs of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), controlling for household background such as resources, parental mental health and inter-parental relationship [8][9]. The study found that father absence (at a given age), similar to poverty and parental psychological distress, predicted a high probability of the child scoring above the cut-off score for total difficulties two years after. Likewise, father absence predicted specific difficulties including borderline personality disorder, severe hyperactivity and abnormal emotional problems [3]. Reciprocally, a child’s severe externalising and social problems (at a point of his/her preschool years) among the many indicators on the questionnaire was also associated with a greater probability of the father being absent two years after. The authors concluded that father absence seemed to be more of a cause than a consequence of child problem behaviour.

Theoretical approaches

[edit]

Evolutionary approach

[edit]

Evolutionary life-history theory postulates that women may invest more in their offspring than the opposite gender does due to a slower rate of reproduction in females [10]. Some theorists add that the assured maternal relatedness to one’s offspring may also make women invest more than men do [11][12]. This is because some men may have variable paternity confidence that the child is his offspring. In light of this, some researchers argue that assured maternal relatedness, together with the lower variance in female reproductive success, may lead parents to bias investment towards female offspring under less favourable household conditions [13]. In other words, father absence and the associated socioeconomic constraints it puts on the household may pose a greater risk to sons’ rather than daughters’ survival.

Psychodynamic approach

[edit]

The psychodynamic approach posits that behaviour is motivated by basic needs, drives and sometimes shaped by unconscious childhood experiences. It is implicated that for a child to develop a “normal” gender identity, they will have to be raised in a conventional family where there is a father and a mother. Freud believed that being brought up by a single mother could confuse the child’s identity and/or lead them to become homosexual [14]. Father absence may hinder the son’s acquisition of the traditional masculine role, as he is not able to model his own behaviour and attitude on his fathers’. In the same line, sons with absent fathers could have confused gender identities – if the son was separated from his father by age 4, he would be less assertive, less involved in sport, less masculine than other boys and more dependent on his peers [15]. Nevertheless, findings of certain empirical studies on psychosexual gender identification have been deemed contradictory and inconclusive [16]. A number of studies have highlighted such negative consequences of the two-parent heterosexual household on children. Contrarily, some others have pointed out that being reared in lesbian and single parent households where the father was absent did not affect the psychosexual development in children, despite higher aggressiveness and submissiveness, and lower assertiveness [17].

Biological approach

[edit]

Genes and hormones may account for the tendency of father absence. Certain DNA patterns have been shown to affect an individual’s degree of fidelity and investment in their offspring. In particular, a study in prairie voles indicates that the gene avpr1a affects the activity of vasopressin receptor in brain regions, and thus predicts less cheating on their partners [18]. Similar to oxytocin, the hormone vasopressin can facilitate trust, empathy and social bonding. Injection of vasopressin in polygamous montane voles significantly increased their likelihood of becoming monogamous [18]. This may in turn decrease their likelihood of being an absent father.

A meta-analysis [19] based on 56 twin and adoption studies totalling over 200,000 families has revealed that genetic makeup significantly affects the individual’s parenting behaviour. Genes in the father predict up to 40 per cent reliably his positive or negative emotions towards his children. In this sense, genes contribute to a father’s liking or repulsion for his children, the latter of which may result in father absence.

Gender difference

[edit]

There is mixed empirical evidence on the relative impact of father absence on the development of male and female offspring. A recent study in rural Ethiopia, where father absence could mean a significant drop in household income, revealed a considerable difference between the wellbeing of male and female offspring [20]. In particular, the author found that a male infant’s risk of dying (per month) was doubled if the biological father was absent – a 30% greater risk than females. For female infants, father absence (as opposed to presence) was associated with a lower risk of dying, as well as higher nutritional status. That is to say, father absence was only a statistical predictor of infant death for male infants. Such a gender difference has been observed despite a strong cultural preference for sons in the area. On the other hand, in developed countries such as United Kingdom where father absence may not inflict as much harm to the family's income, the impacts of father absence are not noticeably gendered [3].

Specific examples

[edit]

Early pubertal timing - precocious puberty - is associated with negative outcomes in both genders. Early maturing girls have been found to be at risk for teenage pregnancy[21], drinking [22] and weight problems[23][24] , and giving birth to low birth weight infants[25]. Early maturing boys are at risk for sexual promiscuity[26] and delinquency[27] and testicular[28] and prostate cancer[29]. Individual difference in pubertal timing may be influenced by weight, physical activity and genetics [30].

Menarche

[edit]

A central event of female puberty – menarche – is associated with father absence[31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39]. According to the evolutionary explanation, an unstable home environment (e.g. father absence) discourages a long-term mating life history, leading girls to adopt a short-term reproductive strategy, such as early menarche[40]. This is because they perceive resources they have as scarce and, possibly, their lifespan to be shorter, under the influence of father absence. An early menarche can increase the chance of fertility, while other short-term reproductive strategies can diversify the genes inherited in offspring. These could lift up a higher success rate of rearing children to adolescence.The stress of father absence also prompts girls to develop a variety of internalising disorders, such as bulimia and depression. They may lower the person’s metabolism, causing an excessive weight gain which precipitates early menarche[24][41]. A study shows that there are fewer monitored meals in the father-absent household[42]. Having meals in the family is arguably more beneficial to children than is eating alone (i.e. solitary eating), as the former lowers the chance of obesity.

However, it has been disputed whether the environmental stress of father absence stimulates weight gain, and thus accelerates early puberty[43][44]. Likewise, the stress arisen from the absence of mother has been shown to have little influence on the child’s body weight. Since mother absence does not predict weight gain in children, it seems that the increase in the child’s body weight observed is due to the isolated genetic influence of an absent father, rather than the global environmental stress cause by the absence of either parent[44] This is possibly because in ancestral times the survival rate of children with mother being absent was extremely low. A specialised mechanism to deal with mother absence has never been developed.

In addition, recent findings seem to regard genes, rather than the environment, as the mechanism underlying the positive correlation between high body mass index and earlier first menarche onset[45] [46][47]. Androgen receptor gene may predispose a father to impulsive and externalising behaviours (e.g. family abandonment) and his offspring to early puberty [48]. The essentialness of androgen receptor to female fertility and ovary development has been proven by rodent studies.

Sexual behaviour

[edit]

Father absence in a household can result in children (of both sexes) having earlier average ages of first sexual intercourse than those raised in father present households. There is also the effect of increased rates of teenage pregnancy. Some evolutionary theories propose that early childhood is vital for encoding information that shapes future reproductive strategies (Belsky, 2007) in regulating physical and motivational pathways of sexual behaviour. Conflicting and stressful parental relationships can lead children to believe that resources are limited, people are untrustworthy, and relationships are opportunistic. As they replicate their parents’ mating-oriented reproductive behaviour, they tend to have multiple sexual partners and erratic relationships. Children implicitly and explicitly model their sexual attitudes and behaviours on their parents, see engagement in non-marital sex as normative. Father absence however can be a byproduct of initial social and economic strain within the household (e.g. violence, lack of educational opportunities and cumulative life exposure to poverty can increase the likelihood of early sexual endeavours and pregnancy). The timing of first intercourse can be heritable - shorter alleles of the X-linked androgen receptor (AR) gene has been associated with aggression, impulsivity, high number of sexual partners, divorce in males and earlier ages of physical maturation in females[48]

Mechanisms that may balance out the drawbacks to father absence

[edit]

Matrilineal support

[edit]

Despite being poorer overall, widowed and divorced women are on average 2.4kg heavier than women whose children’s fathers are present [49]. Widowed and divorced mothers as well as their daughters are reported to have substantially improved nutritional status which could be explained by them having greater access to the mother’s relatives (matrilateral kin). Furthermore, proximity to a mother’s relatives can dramatically improve female children’s height for age, an indicator of good nutrition [50]. Women who return to their village of birth following marital dissolution are seen to benefit from extra matrilateral kin support [51], which replaces the help of the missing husband [52] [53].

Presence of a stepfather

[edit]

In light of certain research, father absence can be disadvantageous ; certain evidence suggests stepfather presence does not reduce these disadvantages but in fact has a worsening effect to such issues. Ellis and Garber (2000) [54] and Ellis (2004) [55] suggest that stepfather presence is a better predictor of age of menarche than father absence, as it indicates lower quality paternal investment. In accordance with their findings, results show that girls raised in families with stepfathers exhibit a significantly earlier age of menarche than girls raised without stepfathers.

Relative to other groups, children with a constantly absent biological father but a stepfather present reported more frequent incidences of sexual intercourse, as well as an earlier onset of sexual behaviour. The mean age of children with their biological father absent or partially absent is approximately 15. A higher percentage of children with a constantly absent biological father reported having sexual intercourse than those in the partially absent group. Those with a stepfather present and those with a biological father always absent have the earliest first time experiences of sexual intercourse at on average 15.11 years old, whereas children without a stepfather or their biological father partially absent at the age of 15.38 experience their first encounter of sexual intercourse. Interestingly, the effect of having a partially absent biological father with stepfather absence and the effect both stepfather or biological father absence are the same. This study indicated that the presence of a stepfather is not compensating to the disadvantages of a biological father being absent. In some situations, it can cause an even bigger negative effect on children [56].

No agreement upon effective client treatment

[edit]

Choice of effective treatment can be greatly varied and thus can be affected by many factors such as age, one’s ability to understand and deal with emotionally heavy material, family members involvement and the family and child’s priorities and needs [57]. In treating some of the negative effects that young girls may have, transference to a male therapist could help facilitate the opportunity to fill any emotional void created through father absence [58]. On the other hand, simply through the existence of a connection with a consistent and empathetic adult can provide some paternal function, regardless of gender [59].

Conclusion

[edit]

The evolutionary approach asserts that father absence poses greater survival threat to sons than daughters. The biological approach attributes an individual’s likelihood of him becoming an absent father to his genetic makeup. The psychodynamic approach places much importance to a present father on the child’s psychosexual development, despite generally inconclusive findings.

Father absence causes precocious puberty which increases the risk for teenage pregnancy, drinking, weight problems, sexual promiscuity, delinquency and cancer. Individual differences in pubertal timing may be modulated by both the environmental stress and genes of absent fathers.

Both mothers and children are seen to benefit in improvement through nutritional status and weight gain, seemingly demonstrating matrilateral support as an effective countermeasure against father absence. Stepfather presence however can have various detrimental effects on a child’s development with regards to puberty and menstruation. However seeking effective treatment for certain issues are dependent on various variables such as gender, age and personal needs.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Amato, P. R. (2010). Research on divorce: Continuing trends and new developments. Journal of Marriage and Family, 72, 650-666.
  2. ^ McLanahan, S., Tach, L. & Schneider, D. (2013). The causal effects of father absence. Annual Review of Sociology, 39, 399-427.
  3. ^ a b c d Flouri, E., Narayanan, M. K., & Midouhas, E. (2015). The cross-lagged relationship between father absence and child problem behaviour in the early years. Child: Care, Health and Development, 41, 1090-1097.
  4. ^ Sear, R., & Mace, R. (2008). Who keeps children alive? A review of the effects of kin on child mortality. Evolution and Human Behaviour, 29, 1-18.
  5. ^ Draper, P., & Harpending, H. (1982) Father absence and reproductive strategy: An evolutionary perspective. Journal of Anthropological Research, 38, 255-273.
  6. ^ Panico, L., Bartley, M., Kelly, Y., McMunn, A. & Sacker, A. (2010). Changes in family structure in early childhood in the millennium cohort study. Population Trends, 142, 75-89.
  7. ^ Pearce, A., Lewis, H. & Law, C. (2013). The role of poverty in explaining health variations in 7-year-old children from different family structures: Findings from the UK millennium cohort study. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 67, 181-189.
  8. ^ Fomby, P., & Osborne, C. (2010). The influence of union instability and union quality on children’s aggressive behaviour. Social Science Research, 39, 912-924.
  9. ^ Goldberg, J. S., & Carlson, M. J. (2014). Parents’ relationship quality and children’s behaviour in stable married and cohabiting families. Journal of Marriage and Family, 76, 762-777.
  10. ^ Trivers, R. (1972). Parental investment and sexual selection. In B. Campbell (Ed.), Sexual selection and the descent of man (pp. 136-179). London: Heinemann.
  11. ^ Alexander, R. D. (1974). The evolution of social behaviour. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 5, 325-383.
  12. ^ Anderson, K. G., Kaplan, H., & Lancaster, J. B. (2007). Confidence of paternity, divorce, and investment in children by Albuquerque men. Evolution and Human Behaviour, 28, 1-10.
  13. ^ Trivers, R., & Willard, D. (1973). Natural selection of parental ability to vary the sex ratio of offspring. Science, 179, 90-92.
  14. ^ Lewes, K. (1988). The psychoanalytic theory of male homosexuality. New York: Simon and Schuster.
  15. ^ Hetherington, E., & Deur, J. (1971). The effects of father absence on child development. Young Children, 26, 233-248.
  16. ^ Golombok, S., & Rust, J. (1986). The Warnock report and single women: What about the children? Journal of Medical Ethics, 12, 182-186.
  17. ^ Golombok, S., Spencer, A., & Rutter, M. (1983). Children in lesbian and single‐parent households: Psychosexual and psychiatric appraisal. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 24, 551-572.
  18. ^ a b Okhovat, M., Berrio, A., Wallace, G., Ophir, A. G., & Phelps, S. M. (2015). Sexual fidelity trade-offs promote regulatory variation in the prairie vole brain. Science, 350, 1371-1374.
  19. ^ Klahr, A. M., & Burt, S. A. (2014). Elucidating the etiology of individual differences in parenting: A meta-analysis of behavioral genetic research. Psychological Bulletin, 140, 544.
  20. ^ Gibson, M. A. (2008). Does investment in the sexes differ when fathers are absent? Sex-biased infant survival and child growth in rural Ethiopia. Human Nature, 19, 263-276.
  21. ^ Udry, J. R. & Cliquet, R. L. (1982). A cross-cultural examination of the relationship between ages at menarche, marriage, and first birth. Demography, 19, 53-63.
  22. ^ Mezzich, A. C., Tarter, R. E., Giancola, P. R., Lu, S., Kirisci, L. & Parks, S. (1997). Substance use and risky sexual behavior in female adolescents. Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 44, 157-166.
  23. ^ Ness, R. (1991). Adiposity and age of menarche in Hispanic women. American Journal of Human Biology, 3, 41-48.
  24. ^ a b Wellens, R., Malina, R., Roche, A., Chumlea, W., Guo, S. & Siervogel, R. (1992). Body size and fatness in young adults in relation to age at menarche. American Journal of Human Biology, 4, 783-787.
  25. ^ Scholl, T. O., Hdiger, M. L., Vasilenko, P., Ances, I. G., Smith, W. & Salmon, R. W. (1989). Effects of early maturation on fetal growth. Annals of Human Biology, 16, 335-346.
  26. ^ Flannery, D. J., Rowe, D. C. & Gulley, B. J. (1993). Impact of pubertal status, timing, and age on adolescent sexual experience and delinquency. Journal of Adolescent Research, 8, 21-40.
  27. ^ Cota-Robles, S., Neiss, M. & Rowe, D. C. (2002). The role of puberty in violent and nonviolent delinquency among Anglo American, Mexican American, and African American boys. Journal of Adolescent Research, 17, 364-376.
  28. ^ Weir, H. K., Kreiger, N. & Marrett, L. D. (1998). Age at puberty and risk of testicular germ cell cancer. Cancer Causes and Control, 9, 253-258.
  29. ^ Giles, G. G., Severi, G., English, D. R., McCredie, M. R., MacInnis, R., Boyle, P. et al. (2003). Early growth, adult body size and prostate cancer risk. International Journal of Cancer, 103, 241-245.
  30. ^ Underwood, L. E. & Van Wyk, J. J. (1992). Normal and aberrant growth. In Wilson, J. D. & Foster, D. W. (eds) Williams Textbook of Endocrinology (8th edition) (pp. 1079-1138). Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders.
  31. ^ Hetherington, E. M. (1972). Effects of father absence on personality development in adolescent daughters. Developmental Psychology, 7, 312-326.
  32. ^ Mekos, D., Hetherington, E. M. & Clingempeel, W. G. (1992). Psychosocial influences on the rate and timing of pubertal development. In Steinberg, L. (Chair) Psychosocial Antecedents of the Timing of Puberty. Washington, DC: Mendle, J., Turkeimer, E., D’Onofrio, B. M., Lynch.
  33. ^ Wierson, M., Long, P. J. & Forehand, R. L. (1993). Toward a new understanding of early menarche: The role of environmental stress in pubertal timing. Adolescence, 28, 913-924.
  34. ^ Kim, K. & Smith, P. K. (1998). Retrospective survey of parental marital relations and child reproductive development. International Journal of Behavioural Development, 22, 729-751.
  35. ^ Kim, K. & Smith, P. K. (1999). Family relations in early childhood and reproductive development. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, 17, 133-148.
  36. ^ Ellis, B. J. & Garber, J. (2000). Psychosocial antecedents of variation in girls’ pubertal timing: Maternal depression, stepfather presence, and marital and family stress. Child Development, 71, 485-501.
  37. ^ Hoier, S. (2003). Father absence and age at menarche: A test of four evolutionary models. Human Nature, 14, 209-233.
  38. ^ Quinlan, R. (2003). Father absence, parental care, and female reproductive development. Evolution and Human Behaviour, 24, 376-390.
  39. ^ Romans, S. E., Martin, J. M., Gendall, K. & Herbison, G. P. (2003). Age of menarche: the role of some psychosocial factors. Psychological Medicine, 33, 933-939.
  40. ^ Belsky, J., Steinberg, L. & Draper, P. (1991a). Childhood experience, interpersonal development, and reproductive strategy: An evolutionary theory of socialization. Child Development, 62, 647-670.
  41. ^ Kaplowitz, P. B. (2008). Link between body fat and the timing of puberty. Pediatrics, 121, S208-S217.
  42. ^ Videon, T. M. & Manning, C. K. (2003). Influences on adolescent eating patterns: The importance of family meals. Journal of Adolescent Health, 32, 365-373.
  43. ^ Moffitt, T. E., Caspi, A. Belsky, J. & Silva, P. A. (1992). Childhood experience and onset of menarche: A test of a sociobiological model. Child Development, 63, 47-58.
  44. ^ a b Bogaert, A. F. (2008). Menarche and father absence in a national probability sample. Journal of biosocial science, 40, 623-636.
  45. ^ Wang, W., Zhao, L. J., Liu, Y. Z., Recker, R. R. & Deng, H. W. (2006). Genetic and environmental correlations between obesity phenotypes and age at menarche. International Journal of Obesity, 30, 1595-1600.
  46. ^ Surbey, M. K. (1990). Family composition, stress, and the timing of human menarche. In Zeigler, T. E. & Bercovitch, F. B. (eds) Socioendocrinology of Primate Reproduction (pp. 11–32). New York: Wiley-Liss.
  47. ^ Mendle, J., Turkeimer, E., D’Onofrio, B. M., Lynch, S. K., Emery, R. E., Slutske, W. S. & Martin, N. G. (2006). Family structure and age at menarche: A children’s of twins approach. Developmental Psychology, 42, 533-542.
  48. ^ a b Comings, D. E., Muhleman, D., Johnson, J. P. & MacMurray, J. P. (2002). Parent–daughter transmission of the androgen receptor gene as an explanation of the effect of father absence on age of menarche. Child Development, 73, 1046-1051.
  49. ^ Gibson, M. A. (2008). Does investment in the sexes differ when fathers are absent? Sex-biased infant survival and child growth in rural Ethiopia. Human Nature, 19, 263-276.
  50. ^ Gibson, M. A., & Mace, R. (2005). Helpful grandmothers in rural Ethiopia: A study of the effect of kin on child survival and growth. Evolution and Human Behavior, 26, 469-482.
  51. ^ Borgerhoff Mulder, M. (1998). Brothers and sisters: How sibling interactions affect optimal parental allocations. Human Nature, 9, 119-161.
  52. ^ Blurton Jones, N. K., Hawkes, K., & O’Connell, J. (2005). Hadza grandmothers as helpers: Residence data. In E. Voland, A. Chasiotis, & W. Schiefenhoevel (Eds.), Grandmotherhood: The evolutionary significance of the second half of female life (pp. 160-176). New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
  53. ^ Leonetti, D. L., Nath, D. C., & Hemam, N. S. (2007). In-law conflict: Women’s reproductive lives and the respective roles of grandmothers and husbands among the matrilineal Khasi. Current Anthropology, 48, 861-890.
  54. ^ Ellis, B. J., & Garber, J. (2000). Psychosocial antecedents of variation in girls’ pubertal timing: Maternal depression, stepfather presence, and marital and family stress. Child Development, 71, 485-501.
  55. ^ Ellis, B. J. (2004). Timing of pubertal maturation in girls: An integrated life history approach. Psychological Bulletin, 130, 920–958.
  56. ^ Mendle, J., et al. (2009). Associations between father absence and age of first sexual intercourse. Child Development, 80, 1463-1480.
  57. ^ (Wineburgh, A. L. (2000). Treatment of Children with Absent Fathers. Child & Adolescent Social Work Journal, 17, 255-273.
  58. ^ Tyson, P. (1980). The gender of the analyst: in relation to transference and countertransference manifestations in prelatency children. The Psychoanalytic Study Of The Child, 35, 321-338.
  59. ^ Strauss, D. (2013). Will you leave me too?: The impact of father absence on the treatment of a 10-year-old girl. Journal Of Child And Adolescent Mental Health, 25, 119-130.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Ljccrim/sandbox&oldid=707977357"