Father absence and timing of menarche in adolescent girls from a UK cohort: The mediating role of maternal depression and major financial problems

Culpin, Iryna; Heron, Jon; Araya, Ricardo; Melotti, Roberto; Lewis, Glyn; Joinson, Carol

doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2014.02.003

Cited by 47 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 69 publications

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“…Lack of paternal influence and quality of the paternal relationship during early childhood has been linked with early menarche [102][103][104][105][106]. One study found that the first five years of life were the most critical for paternal influence to be protective against early menarche [104]. Another study found that it was not paternal absence, but the lack of a quality relationship with one's father that was linked with early menarche [106].…”

Section: Disease Causes and Consequencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Systematic Literature Review of Factors Affecting the Timing of Menarche: The Potential for Climate Change to Impact Women’s Health

Canelón

Boland

2020

IJERPH

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Menarche is the first occurrence of a woman’s menstruation, an event that symbolizes reproductive capacity and the transition from childhood into womanhood. The global average age for menarche is 12 years and this has been declining in recent years. Many factors that affect the timing menarche in girls could be affected by climate change. A systematic literature review was performed regarding the timing of menarche and four publication databases were interrogated: EMBASE, SCOPUS, PubMed, and Cochrane Reviews. Themes were identified from 112 articles and related to environmental causes of perturbations in menarche (either early or late), disease causes and consequences of perturbations, and social causes and consequences. Research from climatology was incorporated to describe how climate change events, including increased hurricanes, avalanches/mudslides/landslides, and extreme weather events could alter the age of menarche by disrupting food availability or via increased toxin/pollutant release. Overall, our review revealed that these perturbations in the timing of menarche are likely to increase the disease burden for women in four key areas: mental health, fertility-related conditions, cardiovascular disease, and bone health. In summary, the climate does have the potential to impact women’s health through perturbation in the timing of menarche and this, in turn, will affect women’s risk of disease in future.

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Section: Disease Causes and Consequencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Systematic Literature Review of Factors Affecting the Timing of Menarche: The Potential for Climate Change to Impact Women’s Health

Canelón

Boland

2020

IJERPH

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“…Although both theories place different emphasis on the role of fathers influencing the timing of pubertal maturation in girls, they converge on the assumption that stressful early childhood experiences, including father absence, affect the physiological and hormonal mechanisms that initiate and control pubertal development (Ellis 2004). The accelerating effect of father absence on subsequent timing of menarche has been consistently reported across a range of cross-sectional (Bogaert 2008; Romans et al 2003; Quinlan 2003) and longitudinal studies (Belsky et al 2007; Culpin et al 2014; Ellis and Garber 2000). In addition, there is evidence to suggest that exposure to father absence during the first 5 years of life is more strongly associated with early menarche than father absence later in childhood (Alvergne et al 2008; Culpin et al 2014; Moffitt et al 1992).…”

mentioning

confidence: 87%

Early Childhood Father Absence and Depressive Symptoms in Adolescent Girls from a UK Cohort: The Mediating Role of Early Menarche

Culpin

Heron

Araya

et al. 2014

J Abnorm Child Psychol

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Absence of the biological father in early childhood has been linked to depressive symptoms in mid-adolescent girls. Earlier studies have linked father absence to early timing of menarche, and early menarche is a risk factor for increased depressive symptoms in adolescence. No studies, however, have examined whether the association between father absence and depressive symptoms may be explained by the early onset of menarche. This study investigated whether age at menarche mediates the association between father absence in early childhood (birth to 5 years) and depressive symptoms in adolescent girls aged 14 years. The study sample comprised 7056 girls from a large UK birth cohort (Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children) who provided data on age at onset of menarche and depressive symptoms assessed using the Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire at 14 years. Mothers provided data on father absence from the birth of the study child up to 10 years. Using structural equation modelling, we found that 15 % of the total estimated association between father absence in early childhood and depressive symptoms at 14 years was explained by early age at menarche. In addition to the mediated effect, father absence was linked to an 11 % increase in depressive symptoms in adolescence. The findings suggest that early age at menarche is one of the pathways linking early childhood father absence and depressive symptoms in mid-adolescent girls. Preventive strategies could be targeting young girls at risk for depressive symptoms as a function of stressful family factors (e.g., biological father absence) and earlier menarche.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10802-014-9960-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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“…Girls who grow up in households from which their biological father is absent are consistently observed to experience menarche at younger ages as compared to peers with present fathers (Alvergne et al 2008;Bogaert 2008;Culpin et al 2014;Hoier 2003;Quinlan 2003). Father absence is also associated with subsequent reproductive timing; girls with absent fathers have younger age of first sex, pregnancy, and birth (Anderson 2015;Ellis et al 2003;Kiernan and Hobcraft 1997;Mendle et al 2009;Moffitt et al 1992).…”

Section: Father Absence and Early Pubertymentioning

confidence: 99%

Father Absence and Accelerated Reproductive Development

Gaydosh

Belsky

Domingue

et al. 2017

Preprint

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Evidence shows that girls who experience father absence in childhood experience accelerated reproductive development in comparison to peers with present fathers. One hypothesis advanced to explain this empirical pattern is genetic confounding, wherein gene-environment correlation (rGE) causes a spurious relationship between father absence and reproductive timing. We test this hypothesis by constructing polygenic scores for age at menarche and first birth using recently available genome wide association study results and molecular genetic data on a sample of non-Hispanic white females from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. Young women's accelerated menarche polygenic scores were unrelated to their exposure to father absence. In contrast, earlier first-birth polygenic scores tended to be higher in young women raised in homes with absent fathers. Nevertheless, father absence and the polygenic scores independently and additively predict reproductive timing. We find limited evidence in support of the gene-environment correlation hypothesis.

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Father absence and timing of menarche in adolescent girls from a UK cohort: The mediating role of maternal depression and major financial problems

Cited by 47 publications

References 69 publications

A Systematic Literature Review of Factors Affecting the Timing of Menarche: The Potential for Climate Change to Impact Women’s Health

A Systematic Literature Review of Factors Affecting the Timing of Menarche: The Potential for Climate Change to Impact Women’s Health

Early Childhood Father Absence and Depressive Symptoms in Adolescent Girls from a UK Cohort: The Mediating Role of Early Menarche

Father Absence and Accelerated Reproductive Development

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