Family factors affecting child development.
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In a large, geographically defined population of children a number of family factors in addition to social class, determined by the father's occupation, were recorded by health visitors and school nurses with routine responsibility for these children. The quality of the children in normal schools was assessed in terms of nonverbal IQ and height at the ages of 5 and 10 years, and of behavior as reported by the teacher at the age of 10 years. By analysis of variance the sum of the independent effects of the other family factors greatly outweighed that of occupational social class, except in the case of the IQ at 10 years. The most important of the other family factors was the quality of the mother's care of her child during the first 3 years of life. (+info)
Adaptive significance of male parental care in a monogamous mammal.
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Paternal behaviour presumably evolved because male care of young was critical for offspring survival. We report field evidence indicating that paternal behaviour enhances offspring survival in a monogamous mammal, the biparental California mouse, Peromyscus californicus. Male removal resulted in lower offspring survival in father-absent than in father-present families. New males took up residence with widowed females, but usually after females had stopped lactating, suggesting that the importance of the father is not primarily protection against infanticidal intruders but rather direct care of young. (+info)
Separation-induced receptor changes in the hippocampus and amygdala of Octodon degus: influence of maternal vocalizations.
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Relatively little is known about the basic mechanisms that play a role in the vulnerability of the developing brain toward adverse environmental influences. Our study in the South American rodent Octodon degus revealed that repeated brief separation from the parents and exposure to an unfamiliar environment induces in the hippocampal formation of male and female pups an upregulation of D1 and 5-HT1A receptor density in the stratum radiatum and stratum lacunosum moleculare of the CA1 region. In the CA3 region, only the 5-HT1A receptors were upregulated; no changes were observed for D1 receptors in this region. GABA(A) receptor density in the hippocampus and amygdala was downregulated (nonsignificant trend) after parental separation. The acoustic presence of the mother during parental separation suppressed the D1 and 5-HT1A receptor upregulation in some regions of the hippocampus; no such suppressing influence was observed for the GABA(A) receptors. In the basomedial amygdala, the maternal calls enhanced the separation-induced 5-HT1A receptor upregulation in the male pups, whereas in the female pups the separation-induced receptor densities were not only suppressed by the maternal call but further downregulated, compared with the control group. These results demonstrate that early adverse emotional experience alters aminergic function within the hippocampus and amygdala and that the mother's voice, a powerful emotional signal, can modulate these effects in the developing limbic system. (+info)
Facial and bodily correlates of family background.
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It has been suggested that absence of the father during early childhood has long-reaching effects on reproductive strategy and development of offspring. This paper reports two studies designed to investigate the physical characteristics of daughters associated with father absence. Study 1 used a facial averaging method to produce composite images of faces of women whose parents separated during their childhood (who were 'father absent'), women whose parents remained together, but had poor quality relationships and women whose parents were together and had good quality relationships. Images were then rated by male and female judges. Father absence and poor parental relationships were associated with apparent facial masculinity and reduced attractiveness in daughters. Poor parental relationships were also associated with reduced apparent health. Study 2 compared family background with body measurements and found that father absence or a poor quality relationship between parents were associated with body masculinity (high waist-to-hip ratio) and increased weight-for-height and adiposity. These results highlight the possibility of physical masculinization being associated with purported father absence 'effects'. (+info)
Depressive symptoms in adults separated from their parents as children: a natural experiment during World War II.
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Despite the significance of childhood trauma for later life, there is little evidence on the long-term consequences of parent-child separation. World War II created a unique natural experiment that allowed the authors to test whether 1) evacuation to temporary foster care unaccompanied by either parent and 2) separation from the father because of his military service predicted depressive symptoms later on. Members of the Helsinki 1934-1944 Birth Cohort (n = 1,658) filled out the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) at the ages of 61.6 (standard deviation: 2.9) and 63.4 (standard deviation: 2.9) years. The mean of the two BDI scores was used as the dependent variable. The data on separation experiences were extracted from the Finnish National Archives and from a survey among the participants. Former evacuees (n = 410) reported 20% (95% confidence interval: 8.7, 33.1) more severe depressive symptoms, and the odds ratio was 1.7 (95% confidence interval: 1.1, 2.6) for having at least mild (BDI score: > or =10) symptoms over time compared with those who were not separated. Those separated from their father because of the father's military assignment (n = 744) did not differ from those who were not separated. (+info)
Childhood parental loss and adult hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal function.
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Early parental deprivation in the marmoset monkey produces long-term changes in hippocampal expression of genes involved in synaptic plasticity and implicated in mood disorder.
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