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Lookup NU author(s): Professor Mark PearceORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
Objectives: In high-income populations, evidence suggests that socioeconomic disadvantage early in life is correlated with reproductive strategy. Children growing up in unfavorable rearing environments tend to experience earlier sexual maturity and first births. Earlier first births may be associated with higher fertility, but links between socioeconomic disadvantage and larger family size have rarely been tested. The pathways through which early disadvantage influences reproduction are unknown. We test whether physiological factors link childhood adversity to age at first birth and total children.Methods: Using data from the Newcastle Thousand Families Study, a 1947 British birth cohort, we developed path models to identify possible physiological traits linking childhood socioeconomic status, and poor housing standards, to two reproductive outcomes: age at first birth and total children. We explored birth weight, weight gain after birth, childhood illnesses, body mass index at age 9, age at menarche, and adult height as possible mediators.Results: We found direct, negative effects of socioeconomic status (SES) and housing on age at first birth, and of housing on fertility. Although we found links between childhood disadvantage and menarche and height, neither of these were significantly correlated with either reproductive outcome. Age at first birth completely mediates the relationship between childhood adversity and total fertility, which we believe has not been empirically demonstrated before.Conclusions: While there are some links between childhood adversity and child health, we find little evidence that physiological pathways, such as child health and growth, link early childhood adversity to reproductive outcomes in this relatively well-nourished population. (C) 2015 The Authors American Journal of Human Biology Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Author(s): Sheppard P, Pearce MS, Sear R
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: American Journal of Human Biology
Year: 2016
Volume: 28
Issue: 3
Pages: 356-363
Print publication date: 01/05/2016
Online publication date: 26/09/2015
Acceptance date: 01/09/2015
Date deposited: 14/09/2016
ISSN (print): 1042-0533
ISSN (electronic): 1520-6300
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.22793
DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.22793
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