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

Overview

Journal Child Dev

Specialty Pediatrics

Date 2003 Jun 11

PMID 12795391

Citations 91

Authors

Bruce J Ellis

John E Bates

Kenneth A Dodge

David M Fergusson

L John Horwood

Gregory S Pettit

Lianne Woodward

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

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 US. 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.

Citing Articles

Lifehistory Trade-Offs Influence Women's Reproductive Strategies.

Dunbar R, Grainger S Adapt Human Behav Physiol. 2024; 10(1):71-83.

PMID: 38686093 PMC: 11055690. DOI: 10.1007/s40750-024-00236-3.

Early adversity and sexual diversity: the importance of self-reported and neurobiological sexual reward sensitivity.

Alley J, McDonnell A, Diamond L Sci Rep. 2024; 14(1):8717.

PMID: 38622142 PMC: 11018754. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-58389-w.

The relationship between parental behavior and the reproductive strategy of daughter is mediated by the development of machiavellianism personality.

Kishimoto T, Kohsaka N Heliyon. 2023; 9(3):e14672.

PMID: 37009329 PMC: 10060177. DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e14672.

Parental practices as predictors of adolescents' compulsive sexual behavior: a 6-month prospective study.

Efrati Y Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2023; 33(1):241-253.

PMID: 36763182 DOI: 10.1007/s00787-023-02155-2.

Assessing parental marital quality and divorce related to youth sexual experiences and adverse reproductive health outcomes among 50,000 Chinese college students.

Wang W, Yin R, Cao W, Wang Y, Zhang T, Yan Y Reprod Health. 2022; 19(1):219.

PMID: 36457034 PMC: 9714071. DOI: 10.1186/s12978-022-01531-6.

References

Fergusson D, Horwood L, Lynskey M . Prevalence and comorbidity of DSM-III-R diagnoses in a birth cohort of 15 year olds. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 1993; 32(6):1127-34. DOI: 10.1097/00004583-199311000-00004. View

Thornton A, Camburn D . The influence of the family on premarital sexual attitudes and behavior. Demography. 1987; 24(3):323-40. View

Dodge K, Pettit G, Bates J . Socialization mediators of the relation between socioeconomic status and child conduct problems. Child Dev. 1994; 65(2 Spec No):649-65. View

Pettit G, Bates J, Dodge K, Meece D . The impact of after-school peer contact on early adolescent externalizing problems is moderated by parental monitoring, perceived neighborhood safety, and prior adjustment. Child Dev. 1999; 70(3):768-78. PMC: 2761644. DOI: 10.1111/1467-8624.00055. View

Bates J, Pettit G, Dodge K, Ridge B . Interaction of temperamental resistance to control and restrictive parenting in the development of externalizing behavior. Dev Psychol. 1998; 34(5):982-95. PMC: 2791965. DOI: 10.1037//0012-1649.34.5.982. View

Carlin J, Wolfe R, Coffey C, Patton G . Analysis of binary outcomes in longitudinal studies using weighted estimating equations and discrete-time survival methods: prevalence and incidence of smoking in an adolescent cohort. Stat Med. 1999; 18(19):2655-79. DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-0258(19991015)18:19<2655::aid-sim202>3.0.co;2-#. View

Pettit G, LAIRD R, Dodge K, Bates J, Criss M . Antecedents and behavior-problem outcomes of parental monitoring and psychological control in early adolescence. Child Dev. 2001; 72(2):583-98. PMC: 2766099. DOI: 10.1111/1467-8624.00298. View

Paul C, Fitzjohn J, Herbison P, Dickson N . The determinants of sexual intercourse before age 16. J Adolesc Health. 2000; 27(2):136-47. DOI: 10.1016/s1054-139x(99)00095-6. View

Bennett N, Bloom D, Miller C . The influence of nonmarital childbearing on the formation of first marriages. Demography. 1995; 32(1):47-62. View

10.

Rhee S, Waldman I . Genetic and environmental influences on antisocial behavior: a meta-analysis of twin and adoption studies. Psychol Bull. 2002; 128(3):490-529. View

11.

Belsky J, Steinberg L, Draper P . Childhood experience, interpersonal development, and reproductive strategy: and evolutionary theory of socialization. Child Dev. 1991; 62(4):647-70. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.1991.tb01558.x. View

12.

Lee J . Covariance adjustment of rates based on the multiple logistic regression model. J Chronic Dis. 1981; 34(8):415-26. DOI: 10.1016/0021-9681(81)90040-0. View

13.

Holmes T, RAHE R . The Social Readjustment Rating Scale. J Psychosom Res. 1967; 11(2):213-8. DOI: 10.1016/0022-3999(67)90010-4. View

14.

Ellis B, Garber J . Psychosocial antecedents of variation in girls' pubertal timing: maternal depression, stepfather presence, and marital and family stress. Child Dev. 2000; 71(2):485-501. DOI: 10.1111/1467-8624.00159. View

15.

Wilson M, Daly M . Life expectancy, economic inequality, homicide, and reproductive timing in Chicago neighbourhoods. BMJ. 1997; 314(7089):1271-4. PMC: 2126620. DOI: 10.1136/bmj.314.7089.1271. View

16.

Fergusson D, Horwood L . The Christchurch Health and Development Study: review of findings on child and adolescent mental health. Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2001; 35(3):287-96. DOI: 10.1046/j.1440-1614.2001.00902.x. View

17.

Amato P, Patterson S . The Intergenerational Transmission of Union Instability in Early Adulthood. J Marriage Fam. 2017; 79(3):723-738. PMC: 5453673. DOI: 10.1111/jomf.12384. View

18.

Comings D, Muhleman D, Johnson J, MacMurray J . Parent-daughter transmission of the androgen receptor gene as an explanation of the effect of father absence on age of menarche. Child Dev. 2002; 73(4):1046-51. DOI: 10.1111/1467-8624.00456. View

19.

Bereczkei T, Csanaky A . Evolutionary pathway of child development : Lifestyles of adolescents and adults from father-absent families. Hum Nat. 2013; 7(3):257-80. DOI: 10.1007/BF02733397. View

20.

Furstenberg Jr F, Brooks-Gunn J . Teenaged pregnancy and childbearing. Am Psychol. 1989; 44(2):313-20. View