Open AccessA Life History Theory of Father Absence and Menarche: A Meta-Analysis
Author(s) -
Gregory D. Webster,
Julia A. Graber,
Amanda N. Gesselman,
Benjamin S. Crosier,
Tatiana Orozco Schember
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
evolutionary psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.889
H-Index - 35
ISSN - 1474-7049
DOI - 10.1177/147470491401200202
Subject(s) - psychology , menarche , meta analysis , daughter , demography , publication bias , narrative , evolutionary psychology , developmental psychology , social psychology , sociology , literature , medicine , biology , art , evolutionary biology
Is the absence of biological fathers related to their daughters' earlier age at menarche? Drawing on evolutionary psychology and life history theory, prior research has suggested such a relationship (Belsky, Steinberg, and Draper, 1991; Draper and Harpending, 1982; Ellis, 2004). Although qualitative reviews have shown narrative support for this relationship (Allison and Hyde, 2013; Ellis, 2004; Kim, Smith, and Palermiti, 1997; Susman and Dorn, 2009), no quantitative review exists to provide empirical support for this relationship or to explain mixed results. Thus, we conducted a random-effects meta-analysis of correlations (Card, 2012) on father absence and daughter menarcheal age (k = 33; N = 70,403). The weighted mean correlation was .14, 95% CI [.09, .19], suggesting that father absence was significantly related to earlier menarche; effect sizes were heterogeneous. Egger's regression (Egger, Smith, Schneider, and Minder, 1997) showed no evidence of publication bias (file-drawer effect; r = .34, p = .052). Outcome measure differences (menarcheal age vs. menarcheal age embedded in a multi-item pubertal timing scale) did not moderate effect sizes. Study year effects (Schooler, 2011) were also non-significant. Our findings support one aspect of the life history model and provide groundwork for subsequent examination of other pathways in the model