Absence of Father Causes Early Puberty and Risky Sexual Behavior

[mikeeh]

I found this article and thought it was interesting. I checked and it doesn’t look like it’s been posted.

How Dads Influence Teens’ Happiness
By Paul Raeburn

Researchers have revealed a robust association between father absence–both physical and psychological–and accelerated reproductive development and sexual risk-taking in daughters.

If the researchers’ hypothesis was correct, memories of unpleasant father experiences would lead the young women to express more favorable views of risky sexual behavior. Pleasant memories of their fathers should push them in the opposite direction.

If father absence causes early puberty and risky behavior, then the younger daughter should show more of that behavior than her older sibling. Also, genes or the family’s environment would not confuse the results, because those would be the same for both daughters. It was close to a naturally occurring experiment, Ellis realized.

Ellis’s suspicions were confirmed. Younger sisters in divorced families had their first periods an average of 11 months earlier than their older sisters–but only in homes in which the men behaved badly as fathers. “We were surprised to get as big an effect as we did,” Ellis told me. The conclusion was that growing up with emotionally or physically distant fathers in early to middle childhood could be “a key life transition” that alters sexual development.

The next step Ellis took was to look at whether these circumstances could affect the involvement of girls in risky sexual behavior.

This time the researchers found that risky sexual behavior was not related to how long daughters lived with their fathers but to what the fathers did in the time they spent with their daughters. “Girls who grew up with a high-quality father–who spent more time as a high-investing father–showed the lowest level of risky sexual behavior,” Ellis said. “Their younger sisters, who had less time with him, tended to show the highest level of risky sexual behavior.”

scientificamerican.com/article/how-dads-influence-teens-happiness/

 

[GEddie]

Wow.

Thank you for posting this item.

ICXC NIKA

 

[George_Stegmeir]

I found this article and thought it was interesting. I checked and it doesn’t look like it’s been posted.

How Dads Influence Teens’ Happiness
By Paul Raeburn

Researchers have revealed a robust association between father absence–both physical and psychological–and accelerated reproductive development and sexual risk-taking in daughters.

If the researchers’ hypothesis was correct, memories of unpleasant father experiences would lead the young women to express more favorable views of risky sexual behavior. Pleasant memories of their fathers should push them in the opposite direction.

If father absence causes early puberty and risky behavior, then the younger daughter should show more of that behavior than her older sibling. Also, genes or the family’s environment would not confuse the results, because those would be the same for both daughters. It was close to a naturally occurring experiment, Ellis realized.

Ellis’s suspicions were confirmed. Younger sisters in divorced families had their first periods an average of 11 months earlier than their older sisters–but only in homes in which the men behaved badly as fathers. “We were surprised to get as big an effect as we did,” Ellis told me. The conclusion was that growing up with emotionally or physically distant fathers in early to middle childhood could be “a key life transition” that alters sexual development.

The next step Ellis took was to look at whether these circumstances could affect the involvement of girls in risky sexual behavior.

This time the researchers found that risky sexual behavior was not related to how long daughters lived with their fathers but to what the fathers did in the time they spent with their daughters. “Girls who grew up with a high-quality father–who spent more time as a high-investing father–showed the lowest level of risky sexual behavior,” Ellis said. “Their younger sisters, who had less time with him, tended to show the highest level of risky sexual behavior.”

scientificamerican.com/article/how-dads-influence-teens-happiness/

From a scientific and sociological standpoint, absolute rubbish, rot, and poppycock.

 

[Prodigal_Son]

From a scientific and sociological standpoint, absolute rubbish, rot, and poppycock.

Can you give us evidence of your assertion? What concrete criticisms do you have of the three peer-reviewed articles included in the link?

 

[otjm]

From a scientific and sociological standpoint, absolute rubbish, rot, and poppycock.

And you are either a scientist or a sociologist? And you have read the literature from the last 50 years detailing father/daughter relationships?

 

[Kamaduck]

Very interesting. And kind of depressing for me personally, given that some of these effects apparently show up in daughters who are as old as 14 at the time of the divorce. On the other hand, it seems that the study only used divorced parents, so I’m not sure whether death of a parent would have a similar effect. Is it the father’s absence itself, or the experience of parental abandonment that leads to these negative effects? The article seems to suggest the latter.
George Stegmeir:

From a scientific and sociological standpoint, absolute rubbish, rot, and poppycock.

I’d also be interested in your specific objections, if you care to share them.

 

[severus68]

I found this article and thought it was interesting. I checked and it doesn’t look like it’s been posted.

How Dads Influence Teens’ Happiness
By Paul Raeburn

Researchers have revealed a robust association between father absence–both physical and psychological–and accelerated reproductive development and sexual risk-taking in daughters.

If the researchers’ hypothesis was correct, memories of unpleasant father experiences would lead the young women to express more favorable views of risky sexual behavior. Pleasant memories of their fathers should push them in the opposite direction.

If father absence causes early puberty and risky behavior, then the younger daughter should show more of that behavior than her older sibling. Also, genes or the family’s environment would not confuse the results, because those would be the same for both daughters. It was close to a naturally occurring experiment, Ellis realized.

Ellis’s suspicions were confirmed. Younger sisters in divorced families had their first periods an average of 11 months earlier than their older sisters–but only in homes in which the men behaved badly as fathers. “We were surprised to get as big an effect as we did,” Ellis told me. The conclusion was that growing up with emotionally or physically distant fathers in early to middle childhood could be “a key life transition” that alters sexual development.

The next step Ellis took was to look at whether these circumstances could affect the involvement of girls in risky sexual behavior.

This time the researchers found that risky sexual behavior was not related to how long daughters lived with their fathers but to what the fathers did in the time they spent with their daughters. “Girls who grew up with a high-quality father–who spent more time as a high-investing father–showed the lowest level of risky sexual behavior,” Ellis said. “Their younger sisters, who had less time with him, tended to show the highest level of risky sexual behavior.”

scientificamerican.com/article/how-dads-influence-teens-happiness/

The author is a journalist, not a sociologist or a psychologist or any scientist. His article/book appears to be largely. based on what a Bruce J. Ellis says. He actually quotes Ellis as saying, “There is certainly evidence from animal research, in a number of species, that exposure to the pheromones of unrelated males can accelerate pubertal development and some evidence that exposure to pheromones of a father can slow it down,” Is that supposed to be scientific evidence?

 

[EasterJoy]

The author is a journalist, not a sociologist or a psychologist or any scientist. His article/book appears to be largely. based on what a Bruce J. Ellis says. He actually quotes Ellis as saying, “There is certainly evidence from animal research, in a number of species, that exposure to the pheromones of unrelated males can accelerate pubertal development and some evidence that exposure to pheromones of a father can slow it down,” Is that supposed to be scientific evidence?

If the research does not include primates, what relevance is it likely to have? Even primate evidence is not any more than a suggestion for the direction research in humans might profitably take.

 

[MJJean]

Or maybe the hormones in the food and an oversexed society where kids are constantly exposed to sexual imagery are accelerating development…

 

[EasterJoy]

OK, here is something more like what I was interested in seeing:
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2465479/

The article suggests that the major public health issue may not be so much that the age of physical puberty is dropping, as that may be the age at which humans went through puberty 20,000 years ago, but that the gap between the age of physical puberty and the age of social and emotional puberty is widening. We have people with adult bodies and subjected to “adult” situations, but with childish social status, social skills, emotional capacity, and social awareness, with the rocking of familial upheaval thrown in. It is a recipe for some tragedies.

 

[EasterJoy]

Or maybe the hormones in the food and an oversexed society where kids are constantly exposed to sexual imagery are accelerating development…

Are you suggesting that children without a father have more hormones in their food? How does that happen?

 

[Prodigal_Son]

Are you suggesting that children without a father have more hormones in their food? How does that happen?

Simple. In the divorce proceedings, the father gets the money, the mother gets the hormones. Kids stay with Mom, and – voila! – instant puberty.

 

[severus68]

If the research does not include primates, what relevance is it likely to have? Even primate evidence is not any more than a suggestion for the direction research in humans might profitably take.

Please read the next sentence of his article. BTW he does not specify primates.“If the same is true of humans, pheromones could help explain how the presence or absence of fathers affects their daughters—although that remains an untested hypothesis.” I understand dogs releasethe same pheromones we do.

 

[EasterJoy]

Please read the next sentence of his article. BTW he does not specify primates.“If the same is true of humans, pheromones could help explain how the presence or absence of fathers affects their daughters—although that remains an untested hypothesis.” I understand dogs release the same pheromones we do.

Occam’s razor wouldn’t look for pheromones as an explanation when the factor used to separate girls into groups are their social memories. As you gain social experiences, certain social attitudes form as a result. The pheromone theory would make more sense as the most likely explanation if it was the mere physical presence of a male parent and not the quality of the social interaction that made the difference. In that case, you’d look for something any male might have to offer, such as a chemical signature.

I’d agree that the most important thing is the correlation between a poor or non- existent father-daughter bond and sexual acting out with men. Explaining it is not without importance, but just knowing the correlation exists is worth knowing about, even without knowing why.

 

[severus68]

Occam’s razor wouldn’t look for pheromones as an explanation when the factor used to separate girls into groups are their social memories. As you gain social experiences, certain social attitudes form as a result. The pheromone theory would make more sense as the most likely explanation if it was the mere physical presence of a male parent and not the quality of the social interaction that made the difference. In that case, you’d look for something any male might have to offer, such as a chemical signature.

I’d agree that the most important thing is the correlation between a poor or non- existent father-daughter bond and sexual acting out with men. Explaining it is not without importance, but just knowing the correlation exists is worth knowing about, even without knowing why.

I disagree, I think all this is junk/pseudo science with people saying what they want to believe and to sell books. I do not profess to be a scientist but I do not see “sexual acting out” by girls because of the absence of fathers. In the past, many men were not there for their children, no hands on helping with the kids, little bonding. So were all those girls “sexually acting up”?

BTW, I am not sure how Occam’s razor comes into this. People are more complex. and

 

[Cackles]

The Fatherless Generation
HomeWhat is “The Fatherless Generation” all about?Biblical FoundationsStatisticsVideo
Statistics
63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes (US Dept. Of Health/Census) – 5 times the average.
90% of all homeless and runaway children are from fatherless homes – 32 times the average.
85% of all children who show behavior disorders come from fatherless homes – 20 times the average. (Center for Disease Control)
80% of rapists with anger problems come from fatherless homes –14 times the average. (Justice & Behavior, Vol 14, p. 403-26)
71% of all high school dropouts come from fatherless homes – 9 times the average. (National Principals Association Report)
Father Factor in Education - Fatherless children are twice as likely to drop out of school.

Children with Fathers who are involved are 40% less likely to repeat a grade in school.
Children with Fathers who are involved are 70% less likely to drop out of school.
Children with Fathers who are involved are more likely to get A’s in school.
Children with Fathers who are involved are more likely to enjoy school and engage in extracurricular activities.
75% of all adolescent patients in chemical abuse centers come from fatherless homes – 10 times the average.
Father Factor in Drug and Alcohol Abuse - Researchers at Columbia University found that children living in two-parent household with a poor relationship with their father are 68% more likely to smoke, drink, or use drugs compared to all teens in two-parent households. Teens in single mother households are at a 30% higher risk than those in two-parent households.

70% of youths in state-operated institutions come from fatherless homes – 9 times the average. (U.S. Dept. of Justice, Sept. 1988)
85% of all youths in prison come from fatherless homes – 20 times the average. (Fulton Co. Georgia, Texas Dept. of Correction)
Father Factor in Incarceration – Even after controlling for income, youths in father-absent households still had significantly higher odds of incarceration than those in mother-father families. Youths who never had a father in the household experienced the highest odds. A 2002 Department of Justice survey of 7,000 inmates revealed that 39% of jail inmates lived in mother-only households. Approximately forty-six percent of jail inmates in 2002 had a previously incarcerated family member. One-fifth experienced a father in prison or jail.

Father Factor in Crime - A study of 109 juvenile offenders indicated that family structure significantly predicts delinquency. Adolescents, particularly boys, in single-parent families were at higher risk of status, property and person delinquencies. Moreover, students attending schools with a high proportion of children of single parents are also at risk. A study of 13,986 women in prison showed that more than half grew up without their father. Forty-two percent grew up in a single-mother household and sixteen percent lived with neither parent

Father Factor in Child Abuse – Compared to living with both parents, living in a single-parent home doubles the risk that a child will suffer physical, emotional, or educational neglect. The overall rate of child abuse and neglect in single-parent households is 27.3 children per 1,000, whereas the rate of overall maltreatment in two-parent households is 15.5 per 1,000.

Daughters of single parents without a Father involved are 53% more likely to marry as teenagers, 711% more likely to have children as teenagers, 164% more likely to have a pre-marital birth and 92% more likely to get divorced themselves.

Adolescent girls raised in a 2 parent home with involved Fathers are significantly less likely to be sexually active than girls raised without involved Fathers.

43% of US children live without their father [US Department of Census]
90% of homeless and runaway children are from fatherless homes. [US D.H.H.S., Bureau of the Census]
80% of rapists motivated with displaced anger come from fatherless homes. [Criminal Justice & Behaviour, Vol 14, pp. 403-26, 1978]
71% of pregnant teenagers lack a father.
63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes. [US D.H.H.S., Bureau of the Census]
85% of children who exhibit behavioral disorders come from fatherless homes.
90% of adolescent repeat arsonists live with only their mother. [Wray Herbert, “Dousing the Kindlers,” Psychology Today, January, 1985, p. 28]
71% of high school dropouts come from fatherless homes. [National Principals Association Report on the State of High Schools]
75% of adolescent patients in chemical abuse centers come from fatherless homes. [Rainbows f for all God’s Children]
70% of juveniles in state operated institutions have no father. [US Department of Justice, Special Report, Sept. 1988]
85% of youths in prisons grew up in a fatherless home. [Fulton County Georgia jail populations, Texas Department of Corrections, 1992]

 

[Cackles]

From a scientific and sociological standpoint, absolute rubbish, rot, and poppycock.

What are you talking about? This is some Athiest from Scientific America explaining to us how the humanoids work. How dare you offend Fr. Science.

 

[Prodigal_Son]

I disagree, I think all this is junk/pseudo science with people saying what they want to believe and to sell books. I do not profess to be a scientist but I do not see “sexual acting out” by girls because of the absence of fathers. In the past, many men were not there for their children, no hands on helping with the kids, little bonding. So were all those girls “sexually acting up”?

I live in Detroit, one of the most violent places in the nation. Guess what, it’s also one of the places with the fewest two-parent families. Do you think this is a coincidence? How could it be?

But I guess you’d be surprised, then, for me to say that – in addition to crime – Detroit is full of teenage mothers?

 

[EasterJoy]

I live in Detroit, one of the most violent places in the nation. Guess what, it’s also one of the places with the fewest two-parent families. Do you think this is a coincidence? How could it be?

But I guess you’d be surprised, then, for me to say that – in addition to crime – Detroit is full of teenage mothers?

Those who visit the imprisoned often note how many of the inmates either had no father or else had a horrific family life. Parents with a loving marriage make a huge difference.

 

[MJJean]

Are you suggesting that children without a father have more hormones in their food? How does that happen?

No, I was suggesting that there are many reasons girls are developing sexually at earlier ages. And the less developed the brain is when the sexual awakening happens the more likely the youngster will take risks because they literally don’t understand that their behavior can have drastic consequences.