Early stress predicts age at menarche and first birth, adult attachment, and expected lifespan

Human Nature

Volumn 16, Issue 3, 2005, Pages 233-265

  Chisholm, James S ^a   Quinlivan, Julie A ^b,c   Petersen, Rodney W ^b,c   Coall, David A ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA   (Australia)

^b UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE   (Australia)

^c ROYAL WOMEN'S HOSPITAL   (Australia)

Author keywords

Age at first birth; Age at menarche; Attachment theory; Expected lifespan; Father absence; Life history theory; Time preference; Women's reproductive strategies

Indexed keywords

EID: 30544444250     PISSN: 10456767     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1007/s12110-005-1009-0     Document Type: Review

References (122)

1. Adair, L., and P. Gordon-Larsen 2001 Maturational Timing and Overweight Prevalence in U.S. Adolescent Girls. American Journal of Public Health 91:642-644.
2. Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI) 1998 Into a New World: Young Women's Sexual and Reproductive Lives. New York: AGI.
3. Barkow, J. 1984 The Distance between Genes and Culture. Journal of Anthropological Research 40:373-379.
4. Belsky, J., L. Steinberg, and P. Draper 1991 Childhood Experience, Interpersonal Development, and Reproductive Strategy: An Evolutionary Theory of Socialization. Child Development 62:647-670.
5. Bereczkei, T., and A. Csanaky 2001 Stressful Family Environment, Mortality, and Child Socialisation: Life-history Strategies among Adolescents and Adults from Unfavourable Social Circumstances. International Journal of Behavioral Development 25:501-508.
6. Bergston-Brucefors, A. 1976 A Note on the Accuracy of Recalled Age At Menarche. Annals of Human Biology 3(1):71-73.
7. Borgerhoff Mulder, M. 1992 Reproductive Decisions. In Evolutionary Ecology and Human Behavior, E. Smith and B. Winterhalder, eds. Pp. 339-374. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
8. Bowlby, J. 1969 Attachment and Loss, Vol. I: Attachment. New York: Basic Books.
9. 1973 Attachment and Loss, Vol. 2: Separation, Anxiety and Anger. New York: Basic Books.
10. Boyce, W., and B. Ellis 2005 Biological Sensitivity to Context, I: An Evolutionary-Developmental Theory of the Origins and Functions of Stress Reactivity. Development and Psychopathology 17:271-301.
11. Burton, L. 1990 Teenage Childbearing as an Alternative Life-Course Strategy in Multigenerational Black Families. Human Nature 1:123-143.
12. Carter, C. 1998 Neuroendocrine Perspectives on Social Attachment and Love. Psychoneuroendocrinology 23:779-818.
13. Charmandari, E., T. Kino, E. Souvatzoglou, and G. Chrousos 2003 Pediatrie Stress: Hormonal Mediators and Human Development. Hormone Research 59:161-179.
14. Charnov, E. 1993 Life History Invariants: Some Explorations of Symmetry in Evolutionary Ecology. New York: Oxford University Press.
15. Chisholm, J. 1993 Death, Hope and Sex: Life History Theory and the Development of Reproductive Strategies. Current Anthropology 34:1-24.
16. 1996 The Evolutionary Ecology of Attachment Organization. Human Nature 7:1-37.
17. 1999a Death, Hope, and Sex: Steps to an Evolutionary Ecology of Mind and Morality. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
18. 1999b Attachment and Time Preference: Relations between Early Stress and Sexual Behavior in a Sample of American University Women. Human Nature 10:51-83.
19. 2003 Uncertainty, Contingency and Attachment: A Life History Theory of Theory of Mind. In From Mating to Mentality: Evaluating Evolutionary Psychology, K. Sterelny and J. Fitness, eds. Pp. 125-153. Hove: Psychology Press.
20. Chrousos, G., and P. Gold 1992 The Concept of Stress and Stress System Disorders. Journal of the American Medical Association 267': 1244-1252.
21. Cicchetti, D., and F. Rogosch 2001 Diverse Patterns of Neuroendocrine Activity in Maltreated Children. Development and Psychopathology 13:677-693.
22. Coall, D., and J. Chisholm 1999 Childhood Psychosocial Stress Accelerates Age at Menarche: A Test of Belsky, Steinberg and Draper's model. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society, June 2-6, Salt Lake City, Utah.
23. 2003 Evolutionary Perspectives on Pregnancy: Maternal Age at Menarche and Infant Birth Weight. Social Science and Medicine 57:1771-1781.
24. Cohen, S., D. A. J. Tyrrell, and A. P. Smith 1993 Negative Life Events, Perceived Stress, Negative Affect, and Susceptibility to the Common Cold. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 64:131-140.
25. Cole, L. 1954 The Population Consequences of Life History Phenomena. Quarterly Review of Biology 29:103-137.
26. Conger, R., X. Ge, G. Elder, et al. 1994 Economic Stress, Coercive Family Process, and Developmental Problems of Adolescents. Child Development 65:541-561.
27. Damon, A., S. Damon, R. Reed, and I. Valadin 1969 Age at Menarche of Mothers and Daughters, with a Note on Accuracy of Recall. Human Biology 41:161-175.
28. Draper, P., and H. Harpending 1982 Father Absence and Reproductive Strategy: An Evolutionary Perspective. Journal of Anthropological Research 38:255-273.
29. Eisenberger, N., and M. Lieberman 2004 Why Rejection Hurts: A Common Neural Alarm System for Physical and Social Pain. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 8(7):294-300.
30. Ellis, B. 2004 Timing of Pubertal Maturation in Girls: An Integrated Life History Approach. Psychological Bulletin 130:920-958.
31. Ellis, B., and J. Garber 2000 Psychosocial Antecedents of Variation in Girls' Pubertal Timing: Maternal Depression, Step-father Presence, and Marital and Family Stress. Child Development 71:485-501.
32. Ellis, B., J. Bates, K. Dodge, et al. 2003 Does Father Absence Place Daughters at Special Risk for Early Sexual Activity and Teenage Pregnancy? Child Development 74:801-821.
33. Ellis, B., S. McFadyen-Ketchum, K. Dodge, et al. 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.
34. Ellison, P. 1990 Human Ovarian Function and Reproductive Ecology: New Hypotheses. American Anthropologist 92:933-952.
35. 1994 Extinction and Descent. Human Nature 5:15 5-165.
36. Eveleth, P., and J. Tanner 1990 Worldwide Variation in Human Growth. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
37. Fischbein, S. 1977 Onset of Puberty in MZ and DZ Twins. Acta Geneticae Medicae et Gemellologiae 26:151-158.
38. Furstenberg, F., J. Brooks-Gunn, and L. Chase-Lansdale 1989 Teenaged Pregnancy and Childbearing. American Psychologist 44:313-320.
39. Gardner, W. 1993 A Life-Span Rational Choice Theory of Risk Taking. In Adolescent Risk Taking, N. Bell and R. Bell, eds. Pp. 66-83. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.
40. Garn, S., S. Pesick, and A. Petzold 1986 The Biology of Teenage Pregnancy: The Mother and the Child. In School-Age Pregnancy and Parenthood: Biosocial Dimensions, J. Lancaster and B. Hamburg, eds. Pp. 77-94. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
41. Geronimus, A. 1987 On Teenage Childbearing and Neonatal Mortality in the United States. Population and Development Review 12:245-279.
42. 1994 The Weathering Hypothesis and the Health of African-American Women and Infants: Implications for Reproductive Strategies and Policy Analysis. In Power and Decision: The Social Control of Reproduction, G. Sen and R. Snow, eds. Pp. 77-100. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
43. 1996 What Teen Mothers Know. Human Nature 7:323-352.
44. Grainger, S. 2004 Family Background and Female Sexual Behavior: A Test of the Father-Absence Theory in Merseyside. Human Nature 15:133-145.
45. Gubernick, D. 1981 Parent and Infant Attachment in Mammals. In Parental Care in Mammals, D. Gubernick and P. Klopfer, eds. Pp. 243-305. New York: Plenum.
46. Gunnar, M. 1998 Quality of Early Care and Buffering of Neuroendocrine Stress Reactions: Potential Effects on the Developing Human Brain. Preventative Medicine 27:208-211.
47. Hamann, S., T. Ely, S. Grafton, and C. Kilts 1999 Amygdala Activity Related to Enhanced Memory for Pleasant and Aversive Stimuli. Nature Neuroscience 2:289-293
48. Harpending, H., P. Draper, and R. Pennington 1990 Culture, Evolution, Parental Care, and Mortality. In Disease in Populations in Transition, A. Swedlund and G. Armelagos, eds. Pp. 251-265. South Hadley, Mass.: Bergin and Garvey.
49. Kazan, C., and P. Shaver 1987 Romantic Love Conceptualized as an Attachment Process. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 52:511-524.
50. Heim, C., J. Newport, Y. Graham, M. Wilcox, R. Bonsall, A. Miller, and C. Nemeroff 2000 Pituitary-adrenal and Autonomic Responses to Stress in Women after Sexual and Physical Abuse in Childhood. Journal of the American Medical Association 284:592-597.
51. Herman-Giddens, M., A. Sandler, and N. Friedman 1988 Sexual Precocity in Girls: An Association with Sexual Abuse? American Journal of Diseases of Children 142:431-433.
52. Hill, E., L. Ross, and B. Low 1997 The Role of Future Unpredictability in Human Risk-Taking. Human Nature 8:287-325.
53. Hill, K., and H. Kaplan 1999 Life History Traits in Humans: Theory and Empirical Studies. Annual Review of Anthropology 28:397-430.
54. Hrdy, S. 1999 Mother Nature: A History of Mothers, Infants, and Natural Selection. New York: Pantheon.
55. 2005 Comes the Child before Man: How Cooperative Breeding and Prolonged Post-weaning Dependence Shaped Human Potentials. In Hunter-Gatherer Childhood, B. Hewlett and M. Lamb, eds. Pp. 65-91. Piscataway, New Jersey: Aldine/Transaction.
56. Insel, T. 2000 Toward a Neurobiology of Attachment. Review of General Psychology 4:176-185.
57. Johnston, F. 1974 Control of Age at Menarche. Human Biology 46:159-171.
58. Kaplan, H. 1994 Evolutionary and Wealth Flows Theories of Fertility: Empirical Evidence and New Models. Population and Development Review 20:753-791.
59. Kaplan, H., K. Hill, J. Lancaster, and A. M. Hurtado 2000 A Theory of Human Life History Evolution: Diet, Intelligence and Longevity. Evolutionary Anthropology 9:156-185.
60. Kaprio, J., A. Rimpela, T. Winter, et al. 1995 Common Genetic Influences on BMI and Age at Menarche. Human Biology 67:739-753.
61. Kelsey, J., M. Gammon, and E. John 1993 Reproductive Factors and Breast Cancer. Epidemiological Reviews 15:36-47.
62. Keyfitz, N. 1977 Introduction to the Mathematics of Populations, with Revisions. Reading, Mass.: Addison Wesley.
63. Khan, A., D. Schroeder, R. Martorell, J. Haas, and J. Rivera 1996 Early Childhood Determinants of Age at Menarche in Guatemala. American Journal of Human Biology 8:717-723.
64. Klopfer, P. 1981 Origins of Parental Care. In Parental Care in Mammals, D. Gubernick and P. Klopfer, eds. Pp. 1-12. New York: Plenum.
65. Kobak, R. 1999 The Emotional Dynamics of Disruptions in Attachment Relationships. In Handbook of Attachment: Theory, Research and Clinical Applications, J. Cassidy and P. Shaver, eds. Pp. 21-43. New York: Guilford Press.
66. Koo, M., and T. Rohan 1997 Accuracy of Short-term Recall of Age at Menarche. Annals of Human Biology 24:61-64.
67. Krieger, N. 2003 Does Racism Harm Health? Did Child Abuse Exist before 1962? On Explicit Questions, Critical Science, and Current Controversies: An Ecosocial Perspective. American Journal of Public Health 93:194-199.
68. Lancaster, J. 1997 The Evolutionary History of Human Parental Investment in Relation to Population Growth and Social Stratification. In Feminism and Evolutionary Biology: Boundaries, Intersections and Frontiers, P Gowaty, ed. Pp. 466-488. New York: International Thomson Publishing.
69. Leigh, J. 1986 Accounting for Tastes: Correlates of Risk and Time Preference. Journal of Post Keynesian Economics 9:17-31.
70. Legro, R., H. Lin, L. Demers, and T. Lloyd 2003 Urinary Free Cortisol Increases in Adolescent Caucasian Females during Perimenarche. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism 88:215-219.
71. LeVine, N. 1987 Differential Child Care in Three Tibetan Communities: Beyond Son Preference. Population and Development Review 13:281-304.
72. Lewis, O. 1967 La Vida: A Puerto Rican Family in the Culture of Poverty - San Juan and New York. London: Seeker and Warburg.
73. Livson, N., and D. McNeill 1962 The Accuracy of Recalled Age at Menarche. Human Biology 34:218-221.
74. McEwen, B. 1995 Stressful Experience, Brain, and Emotions: Developmental, Genetic, and Hormonal Influences. In The Cognitive Neurosciences, M. Gazzaniga, ed. Pp. 1117-1135. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
75. McPherson, C., T. Sellers, J. Potter, R. Bostick, and A. Folsom 1996 Reproductive Factors and Risk of Endometrial Cancer. The Iowa Women's Health Study. American Journal of Epidemiology 143:1195-1202.
76. Mischel, W. 1958 Preference for Delayed Reinforcement: An Experimental Study of a Cultural Observation. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology 62:543-552.
77. Mischel, W. 1961 a Delay of Gratification, Need for Achievement, and Acquiescence in Another Culture. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology 62:543-552.
78. 1961b Father Absence and Delay of Gratification. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology 63:116-124.
79. Mischel, W., Y. Shoda, and M. Rodriguez 1989 Delay of Gratification in Children. Science 244:933-938.
80. Must, A., S. Phillips, E. Naumova, M. Blum, S. Harris, et al. 2002 Recall of Early Menstrual History and Menarcheal Body Size: After 30 Years, How Well Do Women Remember? American Journal of Epidemiology 155:672-679.
81. Netherton, C., I. Goodyer, A. Tamplin, and J. Herbert 2004 Salivary Cortisol and Dehydroepiandrosterone in Relation to Puberty and Gender. Psychoneuroendocrinology 29:125-140.
82. Panksepp, J. 1998 Affective Neuroscience: The Foundations of Human and Animal Emotions. New York: Oxford University Press.
83. Parra, F., R. Amado, J. Lambertucci, J. Rocha, C. Antunes, and S. Pena 2003 Color and Genomic Ancestry in Brazilians. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 100:177-182.
84. Polan, H., and M. Hofer 1999 Psychobiological Origins of Infant Attachment and Separation Responses. In Handbook of Attachment: Theory, Research and Clinical Applications, J. Cassidy and P. Shaver, eds. Pp. 162-180. New York: Guilford Press.
85. Power, C., S. Stansfeld, S. Matthews, et al. 2002 Childhood and Adulthood Risk Factors for Socio-economic Differentials in Psychological Distress: Evidence from the 1958 British Birth Cohort. Social Science and Medicine 55:1989-2004.
86. Presser, H. 1978 Age at Menarche, Socio-sexual Behavior, and Fertility. Social Biology 5:94-101.
87. Promislow, D., and P. Harvey 1990 Living Fast and Dying Young: A Comparative Analysis of Life-History Variation in Mammals. Journal of the Zoological Society of London 220:417-437.
88. 1991 Mortality Rates and the Evolution of Mammal Life Histories. Acta Oecologica 12:94-101.
89. Putnam, F., and P. Trickett 1997 The Psychobiological Effects of Sexual Abuse: A Longitudinal Study. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 821:150-159.
90. Quinlan, R. 2003 Father Absence, Parental Care, and Female Reproductive Development. Evolution and Human Behavior 24:376-390.
91. Quinlivan, J., R. Petersen, and L. Gurrin 1999 Adolescent Pregnancy: Psychopathology Missed. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 33:864-868.
92. Reymert, M. 1940 Relationships between Menarcheal Age, Behaviour Disorders, and Intelligence. Character and Personality 8:292-300.
93. Robertson, A. 1991 Beyond the Family: The Social Organization of Human Reproduction. Berkeley: University of California Press.
94. Sapolsky, R. 1996 Stress, Glucocorticoids, and Damage to the Nervous System. Stress 1:1-20.
95. Sapolsky, R., L. Romero, and A. Munck 2000 How Do Glucocorticoids Influence Stress Responses? Integrating Permissive, Suppressive, Stimulatory and Preparative Actions. Endocrine Reviews 21:55-89.
96. Sarason, I. G., J. H. Johnson, and J. M. Siegel 1978 Assessing the Impact of Life Changes: Development of the Life Experiences Survey. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 46:932-946.
97. Schaffer, W. 1983 The Application of Optimal Control Theory to the General Life History Problem. American Naturalist 121:418-431.
98. Scholl, T., M. Hediger, P. Vasilenko III, et al. 1989 Effects of Early Maturation on Fetal Growth. Annals of Human Biology 16:335-345.
99. Seger, J., and J. Brockmann 1987 What Is Bet-Hedging? In Oxford Surveys in Evolutionary Biology, Vol. 4., P. Harvey and L. Partridge, eds. Pp. 182-211. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
100. Smith, V., D. Taylor, and F. Sloan 2001 Longevity Expectations and Death: Can People Predict Their Own Demise? American Economic Review 91:1127-1135.
101. Stack, C. 1974 All Our Kin; Strategies for Survival in a Black Community. New York: Harper and Row.
102. Steams, S. 1992 The Evolution of Life Histories. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
103. Susman, E. 1997 Modelling Developmental Complexity in Adolescence: Hormones and Behavior in Context. Journal of Research on Adolescence 7:283-306,
104. Susman, E., and K. Pajer 2004 Biology-Behavior Integration and Antisocial Behavior in Girls. In Aggression, Antisocial Behavior and Violence among Girls: A Developmental Perspective, M. Putallaz and K. Bierman, eds. Pp. 23-47. New York: Guilford.
105. Tanner, J. 1978 Fetus into Man. Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press.
106. Tennant, C., and G. Andrews 1976 A Scale to Measure the Stress of Life Events. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 10:27-32.
107. Treloar, S., and N. Martin 1990 Age at Menarche as a Fitness Trait: Nonadditive Genetic Variance Detected in a Large Twin Sample. American Journal of Human Genetics 47:137-148.
108. Trickett, P., and F. Putnam 1993 Impact of Child Sexual Abuse on Females: Toward a Developmental, Psychobiological Integration. Psychological Science 4:81-87.
109. 1998 Developmental Consequences of Child Sexual Abuse. In Violence against Children in the Family and the Community, P. Trickett and C. Schellenbach, eds. Pp. 39-56. Washington, D.C.: APA Books.
110. Trivers, R. 1972 Parental Investment and Sexual Selection. In Sexual Selection and the Descent of Man, 1871-1971, B. Campbell, ed. Pp. 136-179. Chicago: Aldine.
111. Tryggvadottir, L., H. Tulinius, and M. Larusdottir 1994 A Decline and Halt in Mean Age at Menarche in Iceland. Annals of Human Biology 21:179-186.
112. Udry, J., and R. Cliquet 1982 A Cross-Cultural Examination of the Relationship Between Age at Menarche, Marriage, and First Birth. Demography 19:53-63.
113. Vitzthum, V. 2001 Why Not So Great Is Still Good Enough. In Reproductive Ecology and Human Evolution, P. Ellison, ed. Pp. 179-202. Hawthorne, New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
114. Waaktaar, T., A. I. H. Borge, H. P. Fundingsrud, H. J. Christie, and S. Torgersen 2004 The Role of Stressful Life Events in the Development of Depressive Symptoms in Adolescence: A Longitudinal Community Study. Journal of Adolescence 27:153-163.
115. Wellens, R., R. Malina, A. Röche, W. Chumlea, S. Guo, and R. Siervogel 1992 Body Size and Fatness in Young Adults in Relation to Age at Menarche. Annals of Human Biology 17:145-152.
116. Whiting, J., V Burbank, and M. Ratner 1986 The Duration of Maidenhood across Cultures. In School-Age Pregnancy and Parenthood: Biosocial Dimensions, J. Lancaster and B. Hamburg, eds. Pp. 273-302. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
117. Wilson, M., and M. Daly 1997 Life Expectancy, Economic Inequality, Homicide and Reproductive Timing in Chicago Neighborhoods. British Medical Journal 314:1271-1274
118. Wingfield, J., and R. Sapolsky 2003 Reproduction and Resistance to Stress: When and How. Journal of Neuroendocrinology 16:711-724.
119. Woodward, L., and D. Fergusson 1999 Early Conduct Problems and Later Risk of Teenage Pregnancy in Girls. Development and Psychopathology 11:127-141.
120. Worthman, C. 1999 Evolutionary Perspectives on the Onset of Puberty. In Evolutionary Medicine, W. Trevathan, E. Smith, and J. McKenna, eds. Pp. 135-163. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
121. Young, H., A. Zoli, and J. Gallagher 1963 Events of Puberty in 111 Florentine Girls. American Journal of Diseases of Children 106:78-87.
122. Zabin, L., M. Smith, M. Hirsch, et al. 1986 Age of Physical Maturation and First Intercourse in Black Teenage Males and Females. Demography 23:595-605.