Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-tj2md Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T16:51:50.971Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Impact of fathers on risky sexual behavior in daughters: A genetically and environmentally controlled sibling study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 January 2012

Bruce J. Ellis ,
Gabriel L. Schlomer ,
Elizabeth H. Tilley  and
Emily A. Butler
Bruce J. Ellis*
Affiliation:
University of Arizona
Gabriel L. Schlomer
Affiliation:
University of Arizona
Elizabeth H. Tilley
Affiliation:
University of Arizona
Emily A. Butler
Affiliation:
University of Arizona
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Bruce J. Ellis, Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences, University of Arizona, McClelland Park, 650 North Park Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721–0078; E-mail: bjellis@email.arizona.edu.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Girls receiving lower quality paternal investment tend to engage in more risky sexual behavior (RSB) than peers. Whereas paternal investment theory posits that this effect is causal, it could arise from environmental or genetic confounds. To distinguish between these competing explanations, the current authors employed a genetically and environmentally controlled sibling design (N = 101 sister pairs; ages 18–36), which retrospectively examined the effects of differential sibling exposure to family disruption/father absence and quality of fathering. Consistent with a causal explanation, differences between older and younger sisters in the effects of quality of fathering on RSB were greatest in biologically disrupted families when there was a large age gap between the sisters (thus maximizing differential exposure to fathers), with greater exposure within families to higher quality fathering serving as a protective factor against RSB. Further, variation around the lower end of fathering quality appeared to have the most influence on RSB. In contrast, differential sibling exposure to family disruption/father absence (irrespective of quality of fathering) was not associated with RSB. The differential sibling-exposure design affords a new quasi-experimental method for evaluating the causal effects of fathers within families.

Type
Regular Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 24 , Issue 1 , February 2012 , pp. 317 - 332
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. New York: General Learning Press.Google Scholar
Bardone, A. M., Moffitt, T. E., Caspi, A., Dickson, N., & Silva, P. A. (1996). Adult mental health and social outcomes of adolescent girls with depression and conduct disorder. Development and Psychopathology, 8, 811–829.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Belsky, J., Steinberg, L., & Draper, P. (1991). Childhood experience, interpersonal development, and reproductive strategy: An evolutionary theory of socialization. Child Development, 62, 647–670CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bereczkei, T., & Csanaky, A. (1996). Evolutionary pathways of child development: Lifestyles of adolescents and adults from father-absent families. Human Nature, 7, 257–280.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Biglan, A., Metzler, C. W., Wirt, R., Ary, D., Noell, J., Ochs, L., et al. (1990). Social and behavioral factors associated with high-risk sexual behavior among adolescents. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 13, 245–261.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blazei, R. W., Iacono, W. G., & McGue, M. (2008). Father–child transmission of antisocial behavior: The moderating role of father's presence in the home. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 47, 406–415.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Booth, A., & Crouter, A. C. (Eds.). (1998). Men in families: When do they get involved? What difference does it make? Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowlby, J. (1988). A secure base: Clinical applications of attachment theory. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Campbell, L., & Kashy, D. A. (2002). Estimating actor, partner, and interaction effects for dyad data using PROC MIXED and HLM: A user-friendly guide. Personal Relationships, 9, 327–342.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cassidy, J., & Shaver, P. (Eds.). (1999). Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications. New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Chambers, J., Power, K., Loucks, N., & Swanson, V. (2001). The interaction of perceived maternal and paternal parenting styles and their relation with the psychological distress and offending characteristics of incarcerated young offenders. Journal of Adolescence, 24, 209–227.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chandy, J. M., Harris, L., Blum, R. W., & Resnick, M. D. (1994). Female adolescents of alcohol misusers: Sexual behaviors. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 23, 695–709.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cheesbrough, S., Ingham, R., & Massey, D. (1999). A review of the international evidence on preventing and reducing teenage conceptions: The United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. London: Health Education Authority.Google Scholar
Coley, R. L., Medeiros, B. L., & Schindler, H. S. (2008). Using sibling differences to estimate effects of parenting on adolescent sexual risk behaviors. Journal of Adolescent Health, 43, 133–140.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Coley, R. L., Votruba-Drzal, E., & Schindler, H. S. (2009). Fathers' and mothers' parenting predicting and responding to adolescent sexual risk behaviors. Child Development, 80, 808–827.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Conger, R. D., Ge, X., Elder, G. H., Lorenz, F. O., & Simons, R. L. (1994). Economic stress, coercive family process, and developmental problems in adolescents. Child Development, 65, 541–561.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davis, E. C., & Friel, L. V. (2001). Adolescent sexuality: Disentangling the effects of family structure and family context. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 63, 669–681.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DeGarmo, D. S. (2010). Coercive and prosocial fathering, antisocial personality, and growth in children's postdivorce noncompliance. Child Development, 81, 503–516.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Del Giudice, M. (2009). Sex, attachment, and the development of reproductive strategies. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 32, 1–67.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
D'Onofrio, B. M., Turkheimer, E., Emery, R. E., Slutske, W. S., Heath, A. C., Madden, P. A., et al. (2006). A genetically informed study of processes underlying the association between parental martial instability and offspring adjustment. Developmental Psychology, 42, 486–499.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Draper, P., & Harpending, H. (1982). Father absence and reproductive strategy: An evolutionary perspective. Journal of Anthropological Research, 38, 255–273.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Draper, P., & Harpending, H. (1988). A sociobiological perspective on the development of human reproductive strategies. In MacDonald, K. B. (Ed.), Sociobiological perspectives on human development (pp. 340–372). New York: Springer–Verlag.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dunne, M. P., Martin, N. G., Statham, D. J., Pangan, T., Madden, P. A., & Heath, A. C. (1997). The consistency of recalled age at first sexual intercourse. Journal of Biosocial Science, 29, 1–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eaves, L. J., Silberg, J. L., & Maes, H. H. (2005). Revisiting the children of twins: Can they be used to resolve the environmental effects of dyadic parental treatment on child behavior? Twin Research, 8, 283–290.Google ScholarPubMed
Ellis, B. J. (2004). Timing of pubertal maturation in girls: An integrated life history approach. Psychological Bulletin, 130, 920–958.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ellis, B. J., Bates, J. E., Dodge, K. A., Fergusson, D. M., Horwood, L. J., Pettit, G. S., et al. (2003). Does father absence place daughters at special risk for early sexual activity and teenage pregnancy? Child Development, 74, 801–821.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ellis, B. J., & Essex, M. J. (2007). Family environments, adrenarche, and sexual maturation: A longitudinal test of a life history model. Child Development, 78, 1799–1817.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
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.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ellis, B. J., McFadyen-Ketchum, S., Dodge, K. A., Pettit, G. S., & Bates, J. E. (1999). Quality of early family relationships and individual differences in the timing of pubertal maturation in girls: A longitudinal test of an evolutionary model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77, 387–401.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Emery, R.E., Waldron, M., Kitzmann, K. M., & Aaron, J. (1999). Delinquent behavior, future divorce or nonmarital childbearing, and externalizing behavior among offspring: A 14-year prospective study. Journal of Family Psychology, 13, 568–579.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fergusson, D. M., & Woodward, L. J. (2000). Teenage pregnancy and female educational underachievement: A prospective study of a New Zealand birth cohort. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 62, 147–161.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fishbein, M., & Pequegnat, W. (2000). Evaluating AIDS prevention interventions using behavioral and biological outcome measures. Sexually Transmitted Diseases, 27, 101–110.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Forhan, S. E., Gottlieb, S. L., Sternberg, M. R., Xu, F. Datta, S. D., Berman, S., et al. (2008, March). Prevalence of sexually transmitted infections and bacterial vaginosis among female adolescents in the United States: Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003–2004. Paper presented at the National STD Prevention Conference, Chicago.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fox, G. L. (1995). Noncustodial fathers following divorce. Marriage and Family Review, 20, 257–282.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Friedrich, W. N., Lysne, M., Sim, L., & Shamos, S. (2004). Assessing sexual behavior in high-risk adolescents with the adolescent clinical sexual behavior inventory (ACSBI). Child Maltreatment, 9, 239–250.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Furstenberg, F. F., & Nord, C. W. (1985). Parenting apart: Patterns of childrearing after marital disruption. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 47, 893–904.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Geary, D. C. (2000). Evolution and proximate expression of human paternal investment. Psychological Bulletin, 126, 55–77.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gerra, G., Angioni, L., Zaimovic, A., Moi, G., Bussandri, M., Bertacca, S., et al. (2004). Substance use among high-school students: Relationships with temperament, personality traits, and parental care perception. Substance Use and Misuse, 39, 345–367.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hamilton, D. T., & Morris, M. (2010). Consistency of self-reported sexual behavior in surveys. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 39, 842–860.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hardt, J., & Rutter, M. (2004). Validity of the adult retrospective reports of adverse childhood experiences: Review of the evidence. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45, 260–273.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hetherington, E. M. (1972). Effects of father absence on personality development in adolescent daughters. Developmental Psychology, 7, 313–326.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hollingshead, A. B. (1975). Four Factor Index of Social Status. New Haven, CT: Yale University, Department of Sociology.Google Scholar
Huebner, A. J., & Howell, L. W. (2003). Examining the relationship between adolescent sexual risk-taking and perceptions of monitoring, communication, and parenting styles. Journal of Adolescent Health, 33, 71–78.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jaffee, S. R., Caspi, A., Moffitt, T. E., Polo-Tomas, M., Price, T., & Taylor, A. (2004). The limits of child effects: Evidence for genetically mediated child effects on corporal punishment, but not on maltreatment. Developmental Psychology, 40, 1047–1058.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jaffee, S. R., Moffitt, T. E., Caspi, A., & Taylor, A. (2003). Life with (or without) father: The benefits of living with two biological parents depends on the father's antisocial behavior. Child Development, 74, 109–126.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jouriles, E. N., Mehta, P., McDonald, R., & Francis, D. J. (1997). Psychometric properties of family members' reports of parental physical aggression toward clinic-referred children. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 65, 309–318.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kanazawa, S. (2001). Why father absence might precipitate early menarche: The role of polygyny. Evolution & Human Behavior, 22, 329–334.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kashy, D. A., & Kenny, D. A. (1997). The analysis of data from dyads and groups. In Reis, H., & Judd, C. M.(Eds.), Handbook of research methods in social psychology (pp. 451–477). New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Kenny, D. A., Kashy, D. A., & Cook, W. L. (2006). Dyadic data analysis. New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Kotchick, B. A., Shaffer, A., Forehand, R., & Miller, K. S. (2001). Adolescent sexual risk behavior: A multi-system perspective. Clinical Psychology Review, 21, 493–519.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lamb, M. (Ed.). (2004). The role of the father in child development. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Longmore, M. A., Manning, W. D., & Giordano, P. C. (2001). Preadolescent parenting strategies and teens' dating and sexual initiation: a longitudinal analysis. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 63, 322–335.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maguire, M. C. (1999). Treating the dyad as the unit of analysis: A primer on three analytic approaches. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 61, 213–223.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, G., Bergen, H. A., Roeger, L., & Allison, S. (2004). Depression in young adolescents—Investigations using 2 and 3 factor versions of the parental bonding instrument. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 192, 650–657.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McBride, C. K., Paikoff, R. L., & Holmbeck, G. (2003). Individual and familial influences on the onset of sexual intercourse among urban African American adolescents. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 17, 159–167.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mendle, J., Harden, K. P., Turkheimer, E., van Hulle, C., D'Onofrio, B. M., Brooks-Gunn, J., et al. (2009). Associations between father absence and age of first sexual intercourse. Child Development, 80, 1463–1480.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Metzler, C. W., Noell, J., Biglan, A., Ary, D., & Smolkowski, K. (1994). The social context for risky sexual behavior among adolescents. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 17, 419–438.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
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 Dependence, 44, 157–166.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, K. S., Forehand, R., & Kotchick, B. A. (1999). Adolescent sexual behavior in two ethnic minority groups: The role of family variables. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 61, 85–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moffitt, T. E. (2005). The new look of behavioral genetics in developmental psychopathology: Gene–environment interplay in antisocial behaviors. Psychological Bulletin, 131, 533–554.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Parker, G., Tupling, H., & Brown, L. B. (1979). A parental bonding instrument. British Journal of Medical Psychiatry, 52, 1–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Overby, K. J., & Kegeles, S. M. (1994). The impact of AIDS on an urban population of high-risk female minority adolescents: Implications for intervention. Journal of Adolescent Health, 15, 216–227.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Quinton, D., Pickles, A., Maughan, B., & Rutter, M. (1993). Partners, peers, and pathways: Assortative pairing and continuities in conduct disorder. Development and Psychopathology, 5, 763–783.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ream, G. L., & Savin-Williams, R. C. (2005). Reciprocal associations between adolescent sexual activity and quality of youth–parent interactions. Journal of Family Psychology, 19, 171–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rhee, S. H., & Waldman, I. D. (2002). Genetic and environmental influences on antisocial behavior: A meta-analysis of twin and adoption studies. Psychological Bulletin, 128, 490–529.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rodgers, J. L., Cleveland, H. H., van den Oord, E., & Rowe, D. C. (2000). Resolving the debate over birth order, family size, and intelligence. American Psychologist, 56, 599–612.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rodgers, K. B. (1999). Parenting processes related to sexual risk-taking behaviors of adolescent males and females. Journal of Marriage and Family, 61, 99–109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Romer, D., Stanton, B., Galbraith, J., Feigelman, S., Black, M. M., & Li, X. (1999). Parental influence on adolescent sexual behavior in high-poverty settings. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 153, 1055–1062.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rose, A., Koo, H. P., Bhaskar, B., Anderson, K., White, G., & Jenkins, R. R. (2005). The influence of primary caregivers on the sexual behavior of early adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Health, 37, 135–144.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rutter, M. (2005). Environmentally mediated risks for psychopathology: Research strategies and findings. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 44, 3–16.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sampson, R.J., & Laub, J.H. (1990). Crime and deviance over the life course: The salience of adult social bonds. American Sociological Review, 55, 609–627.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sayer, A. G., & Klute, M. M. (2005). Analyzing couples and families: Multilevel methods. In Bengtson, V. L., Acock, A. C., Allen, K. R., Dilworth-Anderson, P., & Klein, D. M. (Eds.), Sourcebook of family theory & research (pp. 289–313). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Sear, R., & Mace, R. (2008). Who keeps children alive? A review of the effect of kin on child survival. Evolution and Human Behavior, 29, 1–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scaramella, L. V., Conger, R. D., Simons, L., & Whitbeck, L. B. (1998). Predicting risk for pregnancy by late adolescence: A social contextual perspective. Developmental Psychology, 34, 1233–1245.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Scarr, S. (1992). Developmental theories for the 1990s: Development and individual differences. Child Development, 63, 1–19.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Singer, J. D., & Willett, J. B. (2003). Applied longitudinal data analysis: Modeling change and event occurrence. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Strauss, M. A. (1979). Measuring intrafamily conflict and violence: The Conflict Tactics (CT) Scales. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 41, 75–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sulloway, F. J. (1996). Born to rebel: Birth order, family dynamics, and creative lies. New York: Parthenon.Google Scholar
Tamis-LeMonda, C. S., & Cabrera, N. (Eds.). (2002). Handbook of father involvement: Multidisciplinary perspectives. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Terry-Humen, E., Manlove, J., & Cottingham, S. (2006). Trends and recent estimates: Sexual activity among U.S. teens. Child trends research brief, Publication 2006–08. Washington, DC: Child Trends.Google Scholar
Tither, J. M., & Ellis, B. J. (2008). Impact of fathers on daughters' age at menarche: A genetically and environmentally controlled sibling study. Developmental Psychology, 44, 1409–1420.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Timmermans, M., van Lier, P. A. C., & Koot, H. M. (2008). Which forms of child/adolescent externalizing behaviors account for late adolescent risky sexual behavior and substance use? Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 49, 386–394.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
United States Census. (2000). U.S. Census factfinder, 2000 (Census 2000 Summary File 3). Retrieved from http://factfinder.census.gov/Google Scholar
Ventura, S. J., Abma, J. C., Mosher, W. D., & Henshaw, S. K. (2008). Estimated pregnancy rates for the United States by outcome, 1990–2004. National Vital Statistics Reports, 56, 1–26.Google ScholarPubMed
Wilhelm, K., & Parker, G. (1990). Reliability of the parental bonding instrument and intimate bond measure scales. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 24, 199–202.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Woodward, L. J., & Fergusson, D. M. (1999). Early conduct problems and later risk of teenage pregnancy in girls. Development and Psychopathology, 11, 127–141.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zimmer-Gembeck, M. J., & Helfand, M. (2008). Ten years of longitudinal research on U.S. adolescent sexual behavior: The evidence for multiple pathways to sexual intercourse, and the importance of age, gender and ethnic background, Developmental Review, 28, 153–224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar