Father Absence in Pregnancy or During Childhood and Pubertal Development in Girls and Boys: A Population‐Based Cohort Study

Gaml‐Sørensen, Anne; Brix, Nis; Ernst, Andreas; Lunddorf, Lea Lykke Harrits; Ramlau‐Hansen, Cecilia Høst

doi:10.1111/cdev.13488

Cited by 12 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…Given that our data on parental composition spanned ages six and older, our findings may support the general claim that midchildhood (juvenility that precedes puberty) is a sensitive period for calibrating sex differences in reproductive strategies [73]. However, without further information from the early childhood or at birth [47], we cannot pinpoint the exact time window when father absence affects pubertal timing. Father absence is associated with different family circumstances, ranging from parental divorce, to the death of the father, to temporary separation due to a parent's job, to co-residence with other family memberseach of which is likely to have different effects on a child's growth and development.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 53%

“…Based on representative and large sample of Korean adolescents, the present study aimed to 1) describe the distribution of age at first nocturnal ejaculation and age at menarche in Korean adolescents; and 2) test the prediction that the onset of puberty was earlier for children living in father-absent households. Among studies that tested the prediction in a population of both sexes, findings have been so far mixed [47][48][49][50][51]. We thus started with the same prediction for both sexes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Father absence and pubertal timing in Korean boys and girls

Lee¹,

Semenchenko²

2023

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 53%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Father absence and pubertal timing in Korean boys and girls

Lee¹,

Semenchenko²

2023

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“…11 Further, parental separation in childhood has to our knowledge never been investigated in relation to semen quality. However, in a study examining reproductive development following parental separation, we found that sons exposed to parental separation in childhood entered puberty earlier than their unexposed peers, 26 indicating that parental separation may affect reproductive development. Moreover, the current study aligns with other research, suggesting that stressful life events in childhood may impair male reproductive health.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 82%

“…To address the timing of parental separation in relation to the specific health consequences under investigation, 15 , 16 we further categorized the exposure category of parental separation in childhood according to what was previously seen for parental separation relative to timing of pubertal development. 26 If the children stated that their parents never lived together, they were assigned to the exposure category parental separation from birth . If they stated that their parents separated between the ages of 0–5 years, the children were assigned to the exposure category parental separation in early childhood .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parental Separation and Semen Quality in Young Men: A Population-Based Cohort Study

Gaml‐Sørensen¹,

Brix²,

Toft³

et al. 2022

CLEP

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Purpose Parental separation may be a stressful life event with the potential to influence hormonal regulation of offspring reproductive health and thereby affect semen quality in young men. We aimed to study the association between parental separation in pregnancy or in childhood and semen quality in young men and to study whether the timing of parental separation in childhood was important. Patients and Methods We conducted a follow-up study of 1058 young men born 1998–2000 from the Fetal Programming of Semen Quality (FEPOS) cohort nested within the Danish National Birth Cohort. Data on parental separation were obtained longitudinal by self-report. Parental separation in pregnancy was dichotomized, and parental separation in childhood was both dichotomized and categorized according to the timing of parental separation (from birth, from early childhood (0–5 years), and from late childhood (6–10 years)). Semen volume, concentration, total sperm count, motility, morphology, and testes volume were analysed using multivariable negative binomial regression models. Results Parental separation in pregnancy was not associated with semen quality. The association between parental separation in childhood and semen quality differed with the timing of parental separation. Parental separation from birth was associated with higher semen volume of 25%, 95% CI (−5; 64); higher total sperm count of 62%, 95% CI (−6; 179); and higher proportion of morphologically normal spermatozoa of 59%, 95% CI (20; 111). Parental separation in early childhood was associated with lower semen volume of −14%, 95% CI (−24; −3); lower concentration of −15%, 95% CI (−28; 1); lower total sperm count of −17%, 95% CI (−32; 2) and lower testes volume of −11%, 95% CI (−18; −3). Conclusion The timing of parental separation was important, and parental separation from birth was associated with higher semen quality, and parental separation in early childhood was associated with lower semen quality.

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“…Based on representative and large sample of Korean adolescents, the present study aimed to (i) describe the distribution of age at first nocturnal ejaculation and age at menarche in Korean adolescents; and (ii) test the prediction that the onset of puberty was earlier for children living in father-absent households. Among studies that tested the prediction in a population of both sexes, findings have been so far mixed [ 46–50 ]. We thus started with the prediction for earlier pubertal onset associated with father absence in both sexes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Father absence and pubertal timing in Korean boys and girls

Lee

Semenchenko

2023

Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health

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Background and objectives Pubertal timing is a key life history trait with long-term health consequences in both sexes. Evolutionary theory has guided extensive research on developmental influences, in particular growing up without a father, on earlier menarche. Far less is known whether a similar relationship exists for boys, especially beyond western contexts. We used longitudinal data from the nationally representative sample of Korean adolescents, which provided us with a unique opportunity for studying male puberty using a hitherto underutilized biomarker: age at first nocturnal ejaculation. Methodology We pre-registered and tested a prediction that growing up in father-absent households is associated with earlier puberty in both sexes. Large sample size (>6,000) allowed testing the effect of father absence, which remains relatively uncommon in Korea, while adjusting for potential confounders using Cox proportional-hazard models. Results Self-reported age at first nocturnal ejaculation was on average 13.8 years, falling within the range known from other societies. Unlike previous findings mostly for white girls, we did not find evidence that Korean girls in father-absent households had a younger age at menarche. Boys in father-absent households reported having their first nocturnal ejaculation three months earlier on average, and the difference was evident before age 14. Conclusion and implications The association between father absence and pubertal timing appears sex- and age-dependent, and these differences may further interact with cultural norms regarding gender roles. Our study also highlights the utility of the recalled age of first ejaculation for male puberty research, which has lagged in both evolutionary biology and medicine.

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Father Absence in Pregnancy or During Childhood and Pubertal Development in Girls and Boys: A Population‐Based Cohort Study

Cited by 12 publications

References 51 publications

Father absence and pubertal timing in Korean boys and girls

Father absence and pubertal timing in Korean boys and girls

Parental Separation and Semen Quality in Young Men: A Population-Based Cohort Study

Father absence and pubertal timing in Korean boys and girls

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