Stress Es Menarche Elsoszules

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Early Stress Predicts Ageat Menarche and First Birth

Adult Attachment andExpected Lifespan

James S. ChisholmUniversity o f Western Australia

Julie A. Quinlivan Ro dney W. PetersenRoyal Women s Hospital, University of Melbourne

David A. C oallUniversity o f Western Australia

Life history theory suggests that in r isky and uncertain environments the optimalreproductive strategy is to reproduce early in order to maximize the probability of

leaving any desce ndants at all . The fact that early me narch e facilitates early repro-duction provides a n adap tat ionist rationale for our f i rst two hypotheses: that w ome n

wh o experience m ore risky and unc ertain environm ents early in life wou ld have (1)earlier menarc he and (2) earlier first births than wom en who ex perience less stress

at an ea rly age. Attachm ent theory and research provide the rat ionale for our second

two hypothese s: that the subjective early experience o f risky and unce rtain environ-

ments (insecurity) is (3) part of an evolved mechanism for entraining alternativereproductive strategies contingent on environmental risk and uncertainty and (4)

reflected in expected l i fespan. Evidence from our pi lot study of 100 wom en at tend-ing antenatal clinics at a large metrop olitan hospital is consistent with all four hy-

potheses: W omen report ing more troubled family relat ions early in l i fe had earl ierme narch e, earlier first birth, were mor e likely to ide ntify with insecure ad ult attach-

ment styles, and expected shorter lifespans. Multivariate analyses show that earlystress direct ly affected age at menarche and first bir th, affected adult at tachment ininteraction with expected lifespan, but had no effe ct on expec ted lifespan, where its

Original version received January 29, 2004; revisions requested April 1, 2004; revised version sub-mitted November 12, 2004; revised version accepted January 8, 2005.

Address all correspondence to James S. Chisholm, School of Anatomy and Human Biology, MailBag Delivery Point M309, University o f Western Australia, 35 Stirling H ighway, Crawley, WA. 6009,Australia. Email: [email protected] .edu.au

Human Nature, Fall 2005, Vol. 16, No. 3 , pp. 2 3 3 - 2 6 5 . 104 5-67 67/9 8/ 6 .00.15



234 Hu ma n Nature Fall 2005

or ig ina l e f f ec t was t ak en ov e r by in t e r ac tions be tw een age a t m e na rche an d adu l ta t t achm e n t a s we l l a s age a t f i rs t b i r t h and adu l t a t tachm en t . W e d i scuss ou r r e su l tsi n t e r m s o f t h e n e e d t o c o m b i n e e v o l u t io n a r y a n d d e v e l o p m e n t a l p e r s p e ct iv e s a n d

the re la t ion be twe en ear ly s t ress in genera l and fa ther abse nce in par t icular .

hEY W ORDS: Ag e a t f i r s t b ir t h ; Ag e a t m en a rche ; At t achm en t theo ry ; E xpec t edl i fe span ; Fa the r absence ; L i f e h i s to ry t heo ry ; T im e p re fe rence ; W om en ' s rep rodu c -t ive s t ra tegies

n t h e ir l a n d m a r k a n a l y s i s o f t h e f a t h e r -a b s e n c e l it e ra t u re , D r a p e r a n d H a r p e n d i n g

( 1 9 8 2 ) p r o v i d e d t h e f ir s t e v o l u t i o n a r y m o d e l o f t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f a l te r n a t iv e

r e p r o d u c t i v e s t r a te g i e s i n h u m a n s . T h e y r e a s o n e d t h a t c h i ld r e n ' s e a r ly e x p e r i e n c e

o f m a l e p a r e n t a l i n v e s t m e n t w a s a m a j o r d e t e r m i n a n t o f a d u l t s o c i o s e x u a l b e h a v i o r ,

w i t h f a t h e r a b s e n c e p r e d i s p o s i n g b o t h s e x e s t o w a r d e a r ly a n d / o r f r e q u e n t r e p r o d u c -

t i o n a n d e x p l o i ta t iv e o r te n u o u s p a i r b o n d s a n d f a t h e r p r e s e n c e p r e d i s p o s i n g b o t h

s e x e s t o w a r d l a te r a n d l o w e r r e p r o d u c t i o n a n d m o r e e n d u r i n g p a i r b o n d s . I n a n

e q u a l l y i n n o v a t i v e a n a l y s i s a d e c a d e l a te r , B e l s k y , S t e i n b e r g , a n d D r a p e r ( 1 9 9 1 )

r e c a s t t h e D r a p e r - H a r p e n d i n g m o d e l i n t e r m s o f a t ta c h m e n t th e o r y , p r o p o s i n g a

m o r e g e n e r a l t h e o r y o f th e d e v e l o p m e n t o f r e p r o d u c t i v e s t r a te g i e s i n w h i c h f a t h e r

a b s e n c e w a s b u t o n e o f a v a r i e ty o f e a r ly s o c i a l - e m o t i o n a l s t r e s so r s p r e d i s p o s i n g

b o t h s e x e s t o d e v e l o p i n s e c u r e a t t a c h m e n t s , a n d t h a t it w a s i n s e c u r e a t t a c h m e n t

h i s t o r y i n g e n e r a l , n o t f a t h e r a b s e n c e i n p a r ti c u l a r , th a t e n t r a i n e d a d u l t r e p r o d u c t i v e

s t ra t e g ie s . B e l s k y a n d c o l l e a g u e s a l so m a d e t h e i m p o r t a n t p r e d i c t i o n th a t i n d i -v i d u a l s w h o s e e a r ly f a m i l y e x p e r i e n c e s a r e h i g h i n s t re s s . . , s h o u l d b e m o r e l ik e l y to

u n d e r g o p u b e r t a l m a t u r a t i o n e a r li e r t h a n c h i l d r e n w h o s e c h i l d h o o d e x p e r i e n c e s a r e

m o r e p a c i f i c ( 1 9 9 1 : 6 5 6 ). A l s o in s p i r e d b y D r a p e r a n d H a r p e n d i n g (1 9 8 2 ) , B a r k o w

m a d e a s i m i l a r p r e d i c t i o n in 1 9 8 4 , s u g g e s t i n g i n a f o o t n o t e th a t f o r g i r l s t h e p r e -

d i c t i o n i n v o l v e s n o t d i f f e r e n c e s i n p h y s i q u e b u t i n a g e a t m e n a r c h e , w h i c h w o u l d

p r e s u m a b l y b e e ar l ie r fo r f a t h e r- a b s e n t g i rl s ( 1 9 8 4 : 3 7 8 ) . A t t e m p t i n g to b u i l d o n

t h e s e p i o n e e r i n g w o r k s , C h i s h o l m ( 1 9 9 3 ) , i n t u r n , re c a s t th e B e l s k y , S t e i n b e r g , a n d

D r a p e r m o d e l i n e x p l i c it l if e h i s to r y t h e o r y t e r m s . A c c o r d i n g t o th e f ir s t p r in c i p l e s

o f l if e h i s t o r y th e o r y , t h e a d a p t i v e f u n c t i o n o f a l te r n a t i v e r e p r o d u c t i v e s t r a t e g ie s i na n y o r g a n i s m i s t o o p t i m i z e t h e c u r r e n t - f u t u r e t r a d e o f f , o f w h i c h l o c a l m o r t a l i t y

r a te s a r e th e m a j o r d e t e r m i n a n t a n d a g e a t f ir s t r e p r o d u c t i o n t h e m a j o r m e c h a n i s m .

T h e r e f o r e , h e p r o p o s e d , w e m i g h t e x p e c t t h e a t t a c h m e n t p r o c e s s a n d a g e a t f i r s t

r e p r o d u c t i o n t o b e s e n s i ti v e to t h e c a u s e s a n d c o r r e la t e s o f l o c a l m o r t a l i t y r at e s. W e

p r e s e n t h e r e t h e r e s u l ts o f a p i lo t p r o j e c t d e s i g n e d t o t e s t th e s e f o u n d a t i o n s .

L I F E H I S T O R Y T H E O R Y

L i f e h i s to r y t h e o r y i s d e v e l o p m e n t a l e v o l u t i o n a r y e c o l o g y : t h e s t u d y o f o r g a n i s m •

e n v i r o n m e n t in t e r a c t io n s t h r o u g h o u t a n d a c r o s s l i fe c y c l es f r o m a n e v o l u t i o n a r y

p e r s p e c t i v e . E x a m p l e s o f m a m m a l i a n l if e h i s t o r y t ra i ts a r e a g e a t f i rs t r e p r o d u c -

t i o n , n u m b e r a n d s iz e o f o ff s p r in g , i n t e r b ir t h i n t e rv a l , l e n g t h o f p a r e n t a l i n v e s t m e n t



Ear ly Stress Predicts Wom en s Life H istory Traits 35

(e .g . , nurs ing) , and l i fe span . Cent ra l to l i fe h is tory theo ry i s the prop os i t ion tha t in

orde r for organisms to have le f t descendants they f i r s t had to surv ive , g row and

deve lop , and then not on ly produce of f spr ing ( ma t ing e f for t ) bu t r ea r them as

wel l ( pa ren t ing e f for t ) . Surv iva l , g rowth and deve lopment , and produc ing and

r e a r ing c h i ld r e n a r e the un ive rsa l and m a jo r c ompone n t s & f i tne s s a nd a r e f o r ms o f

work . D oing wo rk requi res r e sources (e .g . , ene rgy , nu t rien ts , securi ty , in form at ion ,

t ime) , wh ich soo ner or la te r a re a lways l imi ted . There fore , na tura l se lec t ion i s ex-

pec ted to favor m echa nism s for organism s to a l loca te limi ted resources pre fe ren-

t ia lly to the par t icular com pon ent (work) o f fi tness that mos t increased their ancestors '

c ha nc e s o f l e a v ing de sc e nda n t s unde r s imi l a r soc ioe c o log ic a l c ond i ti ons . B e c a use

se lec t ion a lways favors organism s w ho leave more descend ants ( i . e. , f itness i s a l -

ways re la t ive ) , bu t the re so urces requi red for do ing the wo rk of leav ing descend ants

a re a lways l imi ted , i t i s no t poss ib le to maximize a l l the components of f i tness

s imul taneous ly , and t r adeof f s a re inevi tab le . The m ost a l l - encom pass ing t r ad eof f is

tha t be tw een cur ren t and fu ture reproduc t ion . Also k now n as the G enera l L i fe His -

tory Prob lem (Sc haf fe r 1983) , the cur ren t - fu ture t r adeo f f i s a mod e l for pred ic t ing

the opt ima l a l loca t ion of l imi ted resources to r eprodu c t ion on the assum pt ion tha t

the re is a t r adeof f be tw een cur ren t and fu ture repro du c t ion - - i . e . , tha t inc reas ing

cur ren t or shor t - te rm reprod uc t ion reduces reprodu c t ion in the fu ture . This t r adeo f f

i s expec ted to occur wh en (1) inc reas ing cur ren t r eproduc t ion requi res the cur ren t

c onsum pt ion o f r e sou rc e s t ha t wou ld ha ve p r oduc e d g r e a t e r f it ne s s i f u t i li z e d in t he

fu ture and/or (2) inc reas ing cur ren t r eproduc t ion reduces the pa ren t ' s p robabi l i ty ofsu r v iv ing in to t he f u tu r e t o r e p r oduc e a ga in . Em pi r ic a l e v ide nc e a nd ma the m a t i c a l

m ode ls sh ow tha t, eve ry th ing e lse be ing equa l , inc reas ing cur ren t r eproduc t ion i s

the op t ima l s t ra t e gy un de r c ond i t i ons o f e nv i r onme n ta l ri sk a nd unc e r t a in ty ow ing

to the inadequa te or uncer ta in f low of r e sources . R isky and uncer ta in envi ron m ents

p r oduc e h igh o r unp r e d ic t a b l e mor t a l i t y r a t e s a nd thus sho r t o r unp r e d ic t a b l e

l i fe spans . In r i sky and uncer ta in env i ronm ents , pa ren ts lack the resources to m ake

much d i f fe rence in the i r ch i ldren ' s qua l i ty ( chances of surv iva l o r r eproduc t ion) .

W hen p a rents a re unable to a f fec t o f f spr ing q ua l i ty it wi l l o f ten be (or w ould have

been) evolu t ionar i ly r a t iona l to m axim ize the i r quanti ty . On e w ay to do th is i s bym inim iz ing the t im e be fore f i r s t reprodu c t ion (e .g . , th rough ea r ly m enarche) . This

m a x imiz e s t he p r oba b i li t y o f r e p r oduc ing a t a ll unde r c ond i t ions o f h igh o r unp r e -

d ic tab le mor ta l i ty . M axim iz ing quant i ty o f of f spr ing a lso m axim izes the probabi l -

i ty tha t a t l east som e w i l l surv ive and reproduce . The key ins ight o f the cur ren t -fu ture

t radeo f f i s tha t se lec t ion i s no long er expec ted a lways to favor r eproduc t ive s t ra te -

g ies en ta i l ing ma xim um inves tment in a smal l num ber of of fspr ing . Ins tead , desp i te

poten t ia l ly hug e cos ts , under condi t ions o f ri sk and unc er ta in ty i t can be adapt ive to

prod uce la rge num bers o f r e la tive ly low qua l i ty off spr ing (B orge rhof fM ulde r 1992;

C ha m ov 1993 ; C h i sho lm 1999a; H a r pe nd ing , Dr a pe r a nd P e nn ing ton 1990; H i l land Kaplan 1999; Kaplan 1994; P romis low and Harve y 1990, 19 91; Seger and

Brockmann 1987; Steams 1992; Tr ivers 1972) .



2 3 6 H u m a n N a t u r e F a ll 2 0 0 5

T H E D E V E L O P M E N T O F R E P R O D U C T I V E S T R A T E G I E S

Logica l ly , for a l te rna t ive reproduc t ive s t r a teg ies to be deve lopm enta l ly en t ra ined

c o n t i n g e n t o n e n v i r o n m e n t a l r i s k a n d u n c e r t a i n t y t h e r e m u s t b e a m e c h a n i s m

whe r e by in f o rma t ion a bou t e nv i r onme n ta l ri sk a nd unc e r ta in ty be c om e s r e p r e se n te d

in the phe no type . F o l lowing the l e a d o f Dr a pe r a nd Ha r pe nd ing ( 1982) , B a r kow

(1984), B e lsky e t a l. ( 1991) and o the r s ( see be low) we co ns ide r he re four no t m utu-

a l ly exc lus ive poss ib i l it i e s: the e f fects of ea r ly envi ron m enta l r i sk and uncer ta in ty

on (1) age a t men arche , (2) age a t f i rs t b i r th , (3) adul t a ttachmen t , and (4) exp ec ted

l if e spa n . S ing ly o r i n c o mb ina t ion the y m a y p r ov ide in s igh t s i n to how e nv i r onme n -

ta l r i sk and uncer ta in ty a f fec t the deve lo pm ent of r eproduc t ive s t r a teg ies.

A g e a t M e n a r c h e a n d F i r s t B i r th

Ag e a t m a tur i ty i s a c r i tica l l if e h is tory t ra i t for i t ma rks the po in t in the l i f e cyc le

wh e n o r ga n i sms ha ve be e n se l e c te d to r e a l loc a t e r esou r c e s f r om g r owth to r e p ro -

duc t ion . Un de r e x t r e me c on d i t ions o r ga n i sms m a y e ve n r e a l loc a t e re sou r c e s f r om

surv iva l to r eproduc t ion . Becau se of the cur ren t -fu ture t r adeof f th e t im ing o f age a t

f i rs t r eproduc t ion can have m ajor f i tness conseq uence s and ma y cons t i tu te the pr i-

m ary ta rge t o f se lec t ion on l i f e h is tory tr a it s (Charnov 1993; P rom is low and Ha rvey

1990, 1 991; Stearns 1992).

Gene t i c fac tor s Ag e a t m e na r c he is a f f e ct e d by ge ne t i c a nd e nv i r onm e n ta l fa c -

to rs . Ev ide n c e f o r t he i n f lue nc e o f ge ne t i c f ac to rs c om e s f r om n um e r ous s tud ie s

showing s ign i f ic a n t mo the r - da ugh te r c onc o r da nc e a nd s ign i fi c a n t ly g r e a t e r c on -

c o r da nc e be twe e n m onoz yg o t i c t ha n d i z ygo t i c tw ins ( e .g . , F i s chbe in 1977 ; Ka pr io

et a l . 1995; Treloar and Mart in 1990) . The meaning of such resul ts , however , is

c loude d by the e no r m ous r a nge in t he va r i anc e in m e na r c he a l a ge a t t ri bu te d to

gen etic fac tors (e .g. , f rom 10 -15 [John ston 1974] to 74 [Kap r io e t a l. 1995]) .

W ha t i s no t c l e a r is how ge ne t ic de t e r mina n t s o f t he r e a c tion no r m in a ge a t me n-

a rche in te rac t wi th envi ron me nta l fac tors . F ew i f any s tud ies incorpo ra te bo th he r i -tab i li ty e s t ima tes and re levant envi ronm enta l va r iab les in w ays tha t pe rmi t r igorous ,

d i rec t, deve lop m enta l ana lys is o f the i r in te rac tion . (N or does the present s tudy . O ur

a im i s t he mor e m ode s t one o f h igh l igh t ing the o r y a nd da t a c onc e r n ing the r o l e o f

psyc hosoc ia l s t r e s s - - th e sub jec t ive e xpe r i e nc e o f e nv i r onme n ta l r isk a nd unc e r -

t a i n t y - i n d e ve lo p m e n t. )

He al th an d nut ri tion Evide nc e f o r two k inds o f e nv i r onme n ta l i n f lue nc e s on a ge

a t m enarc he com es f rom three k inds o f da ta. F ir st , the we l l -kno wn secula r dec rease

in a ge a t m e na r c he i s w ide ly a c c e p te d a s r e su lt i ng f rom impr ove d he a l th a nd nu t ri -

t ion (Eve le th and Tann er 1990; Tanner 1978). S econd, w i th in-cou nt ry com par isons

usua l ly show la te r m enarch e in rura l and poor a reas than in urban and m iddle -c lass

a reas (Eve le th and Tanner 1990) . Thi rd , p rospec t ive s tud ies show tha t g i r l s who



Early Stress Pred icts W om en s Life Histor y Traits 237

have suf fe red m alnour ishm ent or d isease reach men arche la te r than adeq ua te ly nour -

ished, hea l thy contro ls (e .g. , K ha n e t a l. 1996).

These f ind ing s a re cons is ten t wi th El l i son ' s (1990) b ioassay and W or thman 's

( 1999) a bse nc e o f impa i r m e n t m ode l s o f me n a r c he a l a ge . E l l i son sugge st e d tha t

hum a n f e ma le s ( a mong o the rs ) e vo lve d the c a pa b i l i ty t o m a ke unc o nsc ious b io -

assays of the i r own hea l th , nu t r i tiona l s ta te s, and g rowth ra tes a s a me ans o f sca l ing

reproduc t ive e f for t to the f low o f ma te r ia l r e sources (ene rgy , nu t rien ts , an t ibodies ,

e t c . ) . W or thma n ' s a bse nc e o f impa i r me n t mode l sugge s t s t ha t i n t he a bse nc e o f

i ll ne ss a nd ma lnu t r i t ion m e na r c he w i l l oc c u r e a r ly i n i ts ge ne t i c a lly de t e r mine d

r e a c t ion no r m . I t ma k e s a da p t ive s e nse f o r o r ga n i sms w i th a bunda n t r e sou r c e s a nd

goo d hea l th to r eprod uce ea rly, for th i s enables them not o n ly to capi ta l ize quick ly

on these resources , bu t a l so to m axim ize the probabi l i ty tha t the i r o f f spr ing wi l l be

born in t ime to capi ta l ize on them as we l l (Cole 1954). 1

Psychosocial s tress At the sam e t ime , how ever , the re i s inc reas ing ev iden ce tha t

chronic psych osoc ia l s t r e ss in suf f ic ien t ly hea l thy and w e l l -nour ish ed g i r ls can a l so

acce le ra te pub er ty ( for r ev iews see Bereczke i and Csa naky 2001; Boy ce and El l is

2005; Chisholm 1999a, 1999b; Coall and Chisholm 1999, 2003; Ell is 2004; Ell is

and Garber 2000; Ell is e t a l . 1999, 2003; Worthman 1999) . This makes another

k ind o f adapt ive sense . Max im iz ing cur ren t r eproduc t ion (acce le ra t ing or in tens i -

fy ing fe r t i li ty ) in r i sky and uncer ta in en vi ronm ents ( shor t o r unpredic tab le l i f e spans

tha t lead to un cer ta in soc ia l -emo t iona l r e sources) min imize s the probabi l i ty o f l in -eage ex t inc t ion (El l i son 1994; Ke yf i tz 1977). By ana logy to El l i son ' s b ioassay ,

C h i sho lm (1993) u se d the t e r m soc ioa s sa y to r e f er t o t he p syc hon e u r oe ndo c r ine

p r oc e s se s whe r e by psyc hosoc ia l s t re s s m igh t a f fe c t a ge a t me n a r c he in t he B e l sky

e t al . (1991) a t tachm ent mo de l . At f i r s t the re ma y seem to be som e tens ion be tween

the b ioassay and soc ioassay mod e ls , for the form er holds tha t ea r ly s t re ss de lays

m enarc he whi le the la t te r ho lds tha t ea r ly s tr e ss acce le ra tes m enarche . This incon-

s i s tency m ay be m ore apparent than rea l , however , because the b ioassay m od e l i s

c onc e r ne d w i th t he s t re s s o f m a lnu t ri t ion a nd d i se ase wh e r e a s t he soc ioa ssa y mo de l

focuses on psychosoc ia l s t r e ssors . These s t r e ssors a re no t mutua l ly exc lus ive , o fc ou r se, bu t t he f o r me r p r ima r i ly i nvo lve me ta bo l i c , imm une , a nd e ndoc r ine c on t r o l

sys tems w hereas the la t te r p r imar i ly involve psy cho neu roend ocr ine cont ro l sys-

tems. (O n the o the r hand , phys ica l pa in and so c ia l -emot iona l pa in involve m uch the

sam e neurob io logy [Eisenberger and Liebe rm an 2004] .) As a s ta r t ing poin t for d is -

e n t a ng l ing the b io - a nd soc ioa ssa y mode l s , C oa l l a nd C h i sho lm ( 2003 ; C h i sho lm

1999a) propo sed tha t f e r t i l ity evolved to be co nt ingen t f ir s t on he a l th and nut r i t ion ,

and then , when these a re adequa te , on sa fe ty or secur i ty , a s indexed by re la t ive

a bse nc e o f , o r me a ns o f c op ing w i th , t he spe c i f i c k ind o f e nv i r onme n ta l r i sk a nd

unce r ta in ty engen dered by h igh m or ta l i ty ra te s lead ing to shor t o r unpredic tab lel i f e sp ans - - i . e . , psych osoc ia t s t re ss .

Psycho soc ia l s t r e ss i s exp er ienced su bjec t ive ly as insecur i ty : a rousa l , anxie ty ,

fear , anger , gr ief , sadness, hopelessness. I ts object ive , mater ia l substra te includes




ac t iva tion of the hyp otha lam ic -p i tu i t a ry-adrena l (HPA) sy s tem an d thus a l t e red l eve ls

o f s t re s s ho r m one s , e s pe c i a ll y c o r ti s o l, w h i c h c a n ha ve l ong - l a s t ing o r pe r m a ne n t ,

de l e t e r i ous e f f e c ts (e . g. , Boyc e a nd E l li s 2005 ; C i c c he t t i a nd R ogo s c h 2001 ; H e l m

e t a l. 2000 ; M c E w e n 1995; S a po l s ky 1996; S a po l sky , Ro m e r o , a nd M u nc k 2000 ) .

A l t h oug h t he e v i de n c e i s s ket chy , c h r on i c a c t iva t i on o f t he H P A s ys t e m ha s a l s o

be e n i m p l i c a t e d in e a r l y a c t iva t i on o f t he hyp o t ha l a m i c - p i t u i t a r y - ova r i a n ( H P O )

s ys t e m , w h i c h c on t r o l s t he ons e t o f pube r t y i n w o m e n ( H e r m a n- G i dd e ns e t al. 1988 ;

Legro e t a l . 2003; Ne the r ton e t a l . 2004; Putnam and Tr icke t t 1997; Tr i cke t t and

P u t n a m 1993 , 1998) . T he p r opos i t i on tha t c h r on i c H P A a c t iv i t y is a s s oc i a t e d w i t h

e a r l y m e na r c he m a y a l s o s e e m c on t r a d i c t o r y a t f i r s t , g i ve n t ha t t he m os t l i ke l y

m e c ha n i s m , i nc r e a s e d c o r t is o l p r oduc t i on , is know n to s upp r e s s r e p r oduc t i ve func -

t i on ( Chr ous o s a nd G o l d 1992; S us m a n 1997) . Bu t f r om o u r pe r s pe c t ive t h is i s no t

c on t r a d i c t o r y i n p r i nc ip l e . F ir st , i t i s w e l l know n t ha t m a n y ho r m on e s ha ve o r ga n i -

za t iona l e f fec t s a t one s t age o f deve lop m en t and a c t iva t iona l e f fec t s la t er , and tha t

t he s e e f f e c ts a r e f a r f r om c ons i s t e n t bu t a r e c o n t i nge n t on t he va ga r i es o f e a rl y

exper i ence and i t s t iming (e .g . , Charmandar i e t a l . 2003; Sapol sky e t a l . 2000;

W i ng f i e l d a nd S a po l s ky 2000 ) . S e c ond , f r om ou r pe r s pe c t i ve t he e s s e n ti a l a da p ti ve

func t ion of an evo lved capabi l ity to d eve lo p a lt e rna tive reprodu c t ive s tra t eg ies wou ld

be t o m a x i m i z e t he p r oba b i l i ty t ha t a du l ts w i l l r e p r od uc e i n t he e nv i r on m e n t s i n

w h i c h t h e y h a v e b e e n d e v e l o p in g . T h is e n t a il s p h e n o t y p i c m e c h a n i s m s f o r e n t ra i n-

i ng t he a du l t s op t i m a l r e p r odu c t i ve s tr a t e gy c on t i nge n t on e nv i r onm e n t a l cue s , e s -

pe c i a l l y e nv i r onm e n t a l r i s k a nd unc e r t a i n t y . W e w ou l d t he r e f o r e e xpe c t t ha t t hep r e s e nc e / a bs e nc e , i n te ns i ty , ti m i ng , f r eque nc y , a nd du r a t i on o f s uc h c ue s ( a s w e l l

a s ge ne t i c s a nd t e m p e r a m e n t , o f c ou r s e ) w ou l d m a ke a d i f f e r e nc e in t he i r e f f e c ts on

t he a du l t phe n o t ype . F o r e xa m pl e , V i t z t hum ( 2001 ) no t e s tha t w he n he a lt hy , w e l l -

n o u r i s h e d W e s te r n w o m e n t a k e u p v i g o r o u s e x e r c is e t h e y f r e q u e n t ly s t o p m e n s t r u -

a t in g w h e r e a s c h r o n ic a l ly m a l n o u r i s h e d w o m e n i n d e v e l o p i n g co u n t r ie s w h o h a v e

be e n do i ng ha r d l a bo r a l l t he ir l ive s f r e que n t l y be g i n c h i l dbe a r i ng i n t he i r t e e ns a nd

go o n to have s ix , e igh t , o r m ore preg nan c ies (e .g . , A lan Gu t tm ach er Ins t itu t e 1998).

H e r p r opo s e d r e s o l u t ion o f t h is pa r a dox i s in t e r m s o f li fe h i s t o r y t he o r y a nd t he

f a m i l i a r phys i o l og i c a l p r oc e s s o f a c c l im a t i z a t ion : W e s t e r n w om e n a r e h i gh l y r e a c -t ive t o e xe r c i s e p r e c is e l y be c a us e t he y ha ve a c c l i m a t i z e d to go od h e a l t h a nd n u t r i-

t io n d u r i n g d e v e l o p m e n t w h e r e a s c h r o n ic a l ly m a l n o u r is h e d , h a rd - l ab o r i n g w o m e n

ha ve a c c l i m a t i z e d to m a r g i na l a nd u nc e r t a i n r e sou r c e s . S u s m a n a nd P a j e r c a m e t o

m uc h t he s a m e c onc l u s i on a bou t a c c l i m a t i z a t ion to c h r on i c p s yc hos o c i a l s tr e ss :

U nde r these chronically fearful and challenging conditions, individuals adapt by attenu-ation or dow n regulation o f arousal so as to avoid chronic arousal and excessive energyexpenditure. Su ch energy expenditure related to chronic arousal wo uld otherwise lead totraumatic stress disorder and cardiovascular an d im m un e system pathophy siology. Thus,

as an adaptive strategy in early developm ent, the stress response system/arousal systemdoes no t respond in a typical way to novelty and challenges (200 4:36).

Boy c e a nd E l l is ( 2005 ) m a ke a n a l ogous a r gum e n t s a bou t a c c l im a t i z a t i on t o p s y -



Ear ly Stress Predicts Women s Life H istory Traits 239

chos ocial s tress , prop osing a m od el in wh ich high neu roen doc rine react ivi ty to s t ress

in adul t s i s U-shaped, cont ingen t on g enet ic or t em peram ental d if ferences in reac-

t iv ity and both h igh an d low level s of ear ly s tress, wi th the major ity , the low-

responders (a t the bot tom of the U ) , having exper ience d mo re-or- less equal am ounts

o f early s t ress and supp ort or buffering aga inst s tress . For these rea sons w e pre-

d i c t ed tha t g iven adequa t e hea l t h and nu t ri ti on wo me n exper i enc ing mo re ch ron ic ,

ear ly psychosocia l s tress wo uld exper ience ear l i er menarc he and ear l ier f i r s t b ir th

than o the r women .

ttachment Theory

Bu ilding on Draper and H arpen ding s (1982) original ev olut ionary m od el , Belsky,

S te inberg , and Draper (1991) propose d that the a t t achm ent process (Bowlby 1969)was an ev o lved mec ha n i sm fo r en t ra in ing a lt e rna t ive r ep roduc t i ve s tr a teg i es.

Ch isholm (1993, 199 6, 1999a, 1999b) recas t thei r m ode l in expl ic it l i fe h i s tory

theory terms , propos ing that ch i ldren exper ience envi ronmental r i sk and uncer-

tainty indirectly, throug h the effects of the causes, con seq uen ces, and co rrelates of

h igh or unpredic tab le m or ta l i ty ra tes on parents , an d thus p arent -ch i ld in teract ion .

This i s co ns i s ten t wi th the v iew that parenta l inves tme nt (and not jus t b y m others ,

or eve n parents : e .g ., Hrdy 1999, 2005) i s fundam ental ly about buffer ing chi ldren

from envi ronm ental r i sk and uncer ta in ty by m ot ivat ing adul ts to prov ide resources

to chi ldren (e.g., C hish olm 2003; G ube rnick 1981; K lopfe r 1981; Pank sepp 1998).Th ese resourc es include, as always, ene rgy and nutrients , but espe cial ly impo rtant ,

for a h ighly social spe cies l ike us , is protect ion from socia l-em otiona l insecuri ty.

This i s because hu m an infants face an inherent ly greater potent ia l for socia l -emo-

t ional insecur i ty than o the r pr imate infants . A lone am ong the great apes , h um an

mo thers del iver subsequent of fspring before the pre ceding on e i s nut r i tional ly inde-

penden t , wh ich means t hat on ly hum an m other s may have t o dec ide wh ich one is

the bet ter benef ic ia ry of thei r l imi ted resources (Kap lan e t a l. 2000) . A nd a lone

a m o n g p r i m a t e s - - e x c e p t f o r c o o p e r a t i v e l y b r e e d i n g m o n k e y s l i k e t h e

Ca l l i t r i ch ida e--h um an mothers are know n occas ional ly to neglect , re jec t, o r evenki l l the i r of fspr ing (Hrdy 1999, 2005) . Moreover , ch i ldren exper ience a l l k inds of

env ironm ental r isk and unce rtainty subject ively as social-em otional insecuri ty. T heir

subject ive expe r ience of inadequate or un cer ta in mater ia l resources cer ta in ly in-

c ludes hunger , pain , and le tha rgy --bu t hunger , pain , and le thargy a lso ac t ivate the

HPA and a t tachmen t sys tems , thereby produc ing subject ive fee l ings of insecur i ty

( fear or anxie ty). And w hen parents are n ot suff ic ien t ly buffered against inadequ ate

or unce r ta in socia l -emot ional and mater ia l resources they are ap t to fee l anxious

and f rus trated , and are then less capable o f being cons i s ten t ly accept ing of and

sens i tive and respo ns ive to thei r ch i ldren (Bow lby 1973; C hisholm 1999a, 2003;Co ng er et al . 1994; Koba k 1999; Polan and H ofe r 1999). This increa ses the r isk for

insecure a t tachmen t . On the othe r hand, sufficien t ly consis tent , sensi t ive, and re-

spon sive nurturin g (e.g., tou chin g, hold ing, nuzzl ing, s t roking, rock ing, and their




a du l t a na logs ) a r e kn ow n to m a x i m i z e s e c u r e a t t a c hm e n t , p roba b l y i n pa r t be c a us e

t he y i nc r e a s e oxy t oc i n l e ve l s, w h i c h r e d uc e c o r t i s o l l e ve ls ( Ca r t e r 1998; G u nna r

1998; H am an n e t a l. 1999; Inse l 2000) . F o l low ing B e l sky e t a l . (1991) , we the re -

f o r e p r e d i c t e d tha t w om e n e x pe r i e nc i ng h i ghe r l e ve l s o f e a rl y p s yc hos oc i a l s t re s s

w o u l d be m or e l ike l y t o s how s i gns o f i n s e c u r e a t ta c hm e n t a s a du lt s.

xpected Lifespan

A s m e n t i one d , f o r a l te r na t ive r e p r od uc t i ve s tr a te g i e s to be de ve l opm e n t a l l y e n -

t r a i ne d c on t i nge n t on e nv i r onm e n t a l r i sk a nd un c e r t a i n t y the r e m us t be a m e c ha -

n i s m w h e r e b y i n f o r m a t io n a b o u t e n v i r o n m e n t a l ri sk a n d u n c e r t a i n ty b e c o m e s

r e p r e s e n t e d i n t he phe no t y pe . Ch i s h o l m ( 1993 , 1996 , 1999a, 1999b ) s ugge s t e d tha t

beca use h ig h or unpred ic tab le mor ta l i ty ra t e s l ead to shor t o r unpred ic tab le l i fe spans ,

sens i t iv i ty to dea th ( los s) m igh t be pa r t o f th i s func t ion becau se an xie ty and fea r,

s a dne s s a nd g r i e f ac t iva t e the a t t a c hm e n t s y s t e m . T he r e i s now e v i de nc e c ons i s t e n t

w i t h t h i s p r opo s i t ion . T he f i r st w i t h w h i c h w e ' r e f a m i l ia r is Bu r t on ' s ( 1990) . I n he r

r e s e ar c h o n t e e n p r e g n a n c y i n a l o w - i n c o m e , s e m i -r u r a l b l a c k c o m m u n i t y in t h e

U . S ., s he f ound t ha t a l t hough a c tua r i a l f i gu r e s be l i e d t he i r pe s s i m i s m , f u l ly 91 o f

he r s a m p l e o f 56 w om e n d i d no t e xpe c t t o r e a c h t he i r s ix t ie t h b ir thda y . O n t he ba s i s

o f e t hnog r a ph i c a nd m or t a l i t y da ta G e r on i m us ( 1996 ), w ho a l s o w or k e d i n a low -

i nc om e b l a c k c om m un i t y i n the U . S ., a r gue d t ha t pe r c e p t i ons o f m or t a l i t y ri sk , f o r

bo t h w om e n a nd m e n , ha ve a m a j o r i n f l ue nc e on t e e n g i r l s ' fe r ti li ty de c i s i ons :

Theories about early fertility that ascribe to teen mothers an inability to plan for thefuture m ay be mistaken. By deciding to become teen m others, young wo m en in som epersistently im poverished pop ulations may be p lanning for the kind o f future they haveevery reason to expect. Lo ng life and th e freedom to p ostpo ne central or cherished go alsare no t universal (1996:346).

I n t h e ir s t u d y o f 7 7 n e i g h b o r h o o d s i n C h i c a g o , W i l so n a n d D a l y ( 1 9 9 7 ) f o u n d a

s i gn i f i c a n t re l a t i ons h i p be t w e e n a ge - s pe c i f i c f e r ti l it y a nd m or t a l i t y ra t es , w i t h t heh i ghe s t r at e s o f e a r ly c h i l dbe a r i ng c on c e n t r a t e d i n thos e n e i ghb o r ho ods w i t h t he

shor t es t l i fe exp ec tanc ies .

Us in g ques t ionna i re da ta , H ill , Ross , and Lo w (1997 ) fo und tha t r isk- t ak ing (which

i s a s soc ia t ed wi th pre fe rence for cur ren t vs . fu ture payof fs [Gardner 1993] ) was

s i g n if i ca n t ly m o r e c o m m o n i n t h o s e w i t h a d v e r se c h i l d h o o d e x p e r ie n c e s a n d s ig -

n i f i c a n t l y h i ghe r i n thos e w ho e x pe c t e d t o ha ve a s ho r t l i fe s pa n . Ch i s h o l m ( 1999b) ,

w o r k i n g w i t h a s a m p l e o f 1 36 A m e r i c a n u n i v e r si ty w o m e n a g e d 1 9 - 2 5 , f o u n d s ig -

n i f i c a n t ne ga t i ve c o r r e l a ti ons be t w e e n s e ve ra l m e a s u r e s o f e a r l y p s yc hos o c i a l s tr e ss

a nd e xpe c t e d l i f e spa n a nd s i gn i f ic a n t pos it i ve c o r re l a ti ons be t w e e n a ge a t m e n a r c he ,

age a t f i r s t s exua l in t e rcou rse , and exp ec ted l i fe span . S imi la rly , i n a s am ple of 277

f e m a l e s t a f f a nd s t ude n t s a ge d 15 - 40 a t a n A us tr a l ia n un i ve r si ty , Coa l l a nd Ch i s ho l m

( 1999) f o und s i gn i f i c a n t ne ga t i ve c o r r e la t i ons be t w e e n s e ve ra l m e a s u r e s o f e ar l y



Ear ly Stress Predicts Wom en s Life Histor y Traits 241

p s y c h o s o c i a l s t re s s a n d e x p e c t e d l i f e s p a n a n d a s i g n i f i c a n t p o s i t iv e c o r r e l a t i o n b e -

t w e e n a g e a t m e n a r c h e a n d e x p e c t e d l i f e sp a n . W o r k i n g w i t h q u e s t i o n n a i r e d a t a o n

7 3 2 H u n g a r i a n m e n a n d w o m e n a g e d b e t w e e n 4 5 a n d 5 4 , B e r e c z k e i a n d C s a n a k y

r e p o r t e d t h a t

the l e s s pa ren t a l l ove the ch i ld ren r ece ived du r ing ch i ldhood , t he h ighe r l i f e long m or t a l -i ty ra tes they had un t i l the age of 45 (17.2% vs . 11 .9% , Z2= 5.11, p < .05). Similarly, h ighleve l s o f em ot iona l s tr es s d u r ing ch i ldh ood p roved to be a s t rong de t e rm inan t o f thech i ld ren ' s l ow l i f e - expec t ancy (18 .6% vs . 13 .4% , Z2= 4 .52 , p < .05 ) (Be reczke i andCsan aky 2001 :505) .

L a s t , S m i t h , T a y lo r , a n d S l o a n ( 2 0 0 1 ) , w i t h d a t a f r o m f o u r w a v e s o f t h e H e a l t h

a n d R e t i r e m e n t S u r v e y , a n a t i o n a l p a n e l s t u d y o f b i r t h c o h o r t s f r o m 1 93 1 t o 1 9 41( n > 2 3 , 0 0 0 ) , f o u n d t h a t ( 1 ) s u b j e c ti v e b e l ie f s a b o u t e x p e c t e d l i f e s p a n w e r e p o s i -

t iv e l y c o r r e l a t e d w i t h o b s e r v e d s u r v iv a l r a te s , ( 2 ) e x p e c t e d l i fe s p a n c o n s i s t e n t ly

d e c l i n e d a m o n g t h o s e w h o d i e d d u r i n g t h e s t u d y p e r io d b u t r e m a i n e d c o n s t a n t in

t h o s e w h o w e r e s t il l a l iv e a t i ts c o n c l u s i o n , a n d ( 3 ) e x p e c t a t i o n s o f l o n g e v i t y r e -

s p o n d n e g a t i v e l y b o t h t o s e ri o u s , n e w h e a l t h s h o c k s a n d t o i n c r e a s e s i n i n d i v i d u a l s '

f u n c t i o n a l l i m i t a t io n s ( 2 0 0 1 : 1 1 2 6 ) . W e t h e r e f o r e h y p o t h e s i z e d t h a t w o m e n e x p e -

r i e n c i n g h i g h e r l e v e l s o f e ar ly p s y c h o s o c i a l s t r e ss w o u l d e x p e c t s h o r t e r l i fe s p a n s .

T H E R E S E A R C H

art ic ipants

O u r r e s e a r c h w a s c o n d u c t e d a t a l a rg e , m e t r o p o l i ta n , t e r ti a r y r e f e rr a l h o s p i t a l i n

a n A u s t r a li a n c a p i t al c it y. A f t e r a p p r o a c h i n g 1 1 6 p r e g n a n t w o m e n w e a c h i e v e d o u r

f i n a l s a m p l e s i z e o f 1 0 0 . T h e y r a n g e d i n a g e b e t w e e n 1 4 a n d 3 6 y e a r s a t d e l i v e ry , a l l

w e r e p r i m i p a r o u s , a n d n o n e h a d a k n o w n f e ta l a n o m a l y . R o u t i n e m e d i c a l h is t o r ie s

a n d c l i n ic a l e x a m i n a t i o n s s h o w e d n o e v i d e n c e o f c h r o n i c o r a c u te d i s e a s e o r m a l -

n u t r it i o n . F i f t y o f t h e w o m e n w e r e _<20 y e a r s o l d a t d e l i v e r y a n d t h e o t h e r f i f t y w e r e> 2 0 . W e o v e r s a m p l e d th e y o u n g e r m o t h e r s f o r tw o r e a s o n s : ( 1 ) B e c a u s e o u r p r i-

m a r y h y p o t h e s e s c o n c e r n e d t h e r o l e o f e a r ly s t r e ss i n a g e a t f i rs t re p r o d u c t i o n , w e

w a n t e d t o e n s u r e a n a d e q u a t e n u m b e r o f y o u n g , f i r s t- t im e m o t h e r s ; a n d ( 2 ) F o l l o w -

i n g s t a n d a r d p r a c ti c e i n e p i d e m i o l o g y , w e o v e r - s a m p l e d y o u n g m o t h e r s b e c a u s e

t e e n p r e g n a n c y i s a c o n t i n u i n g p u b l ic h e a l t h c o n c e r n ( e . g. , F u r s te n b e r g , B r o o k s -

G u n n , a n d C h a s e - L a n s d a l e 1 9 8 9; Q u i n l i v a n et a l. 1 9 9 9 ; W o o d w a r d a n d F e r g u s s o n

1 9 9 9 ) a n d i s o f t e n p r e c e d e d b y e a r l y m e n a r c h e , a t l e a s t in W e s t e r n s o c i e t i e s ( e. g .,

G a r n , P e s i c k a n d P e t z o l d 1 9 8 6 ; P r e s se r 1 9 7 8; U d r y a n d C l i q u e t 1 9 8 2; W h i t i n g ,

B u r b a n k , a n d R a t n e r 1 9 8 6; Z a b i n e t al. 1 9 8 6 ), a n d b e c a u s e e a r ly m e n a r c h e i s a

p u b l i c h e a l t h c o n c e r n i n it s o w n f i g h t (e .g . , A d a i r a n d G o r d o n - L a r s e n 2 0 0 l ; K e l s e y ,

G a m m o n a n d J o h n 1 9 9 3; M c P h e r s o n e t al . 1 9 9 6 ; S c h o l l et a i. 1 9 8 9; W e l l e n s e t a l.

1 9 9 2 ). ( W e s h o u l d n o t e h e r e t h a t w h i l e s o m e o f o u r d e s c r i p t iv e d a t a a r e p r e s e n t e d




f o r o l d e r a n d y o u n g e r m o t h e r s a s g r o u p s , t h i s i s fo r i l lu s t ra t iv e p u r p o s e s o n ly , a n d

a ll o f o u r a n a l y s e s u s e d m o t h e r ' s a g e a s a c o n t i n u o u s v a ri a b le . ) P o w e r a n a ly s i s s h o w e d

t h a t a s a m p l e s i z e o f 1 0 0 w o u l d b e a b l e t o d e t e c t a d i f f e r e n c e i n e a rl y s t re s s b e t w e e n

w o m e n w i t h e a r ly a n d l a te m e n a r c h e ( b e lo w a n d a b o v e o u r e s t im a t e d s a m p l e

m e a n o f 1 2 .5 y e a r s [ a c t u a l: 1 2 .6 ] ) a t a t w o - t a i l e d s i g n i f i c a n c e l e v e l o f .0 5 w i t h a

p o w e r o f 8 0 % . T h e o l d e r p r e g n a n t w o m e n w e r e e n r o ll e d f r o m g e n e r a l a n te n a ta l

c l in i cs w h i l e t h e y o u n g e r w o m e n w e r e e n r o l le d fr o m e it h e r Y o u n g M o t h e r s o r

g e n e r a l a n t e n a t a l c l i n i c s . T h i s s l i g h t d i f f e r e n c e i n r e c r u i t m e n t i s u n l i k e l y t o h a v e

b i a s e d o u r s a m p l e b e c a u s e th e y o u n g w o m e n w e r e d ir e c te d t o t h e Y o u n g M o t h e r s

o r g e n e r a l a n t e n a t a l c l i n i c r a n d o m l y , a c c o r d i n g t o w h i c h h a d t h e n e x t a v a i l a b l e

o p e n i n g . S i x t y - o n e p e r c e n t o f o u r s a m p l e i d e n t i f ie d th e m s e l v e s a s C a u c a s i a n , 1 6 %

a s A s i a n , 4 % a s A b o r i g i n a l A u s t r a l ia n , a n d t h e r e m a i n i n g 1 9 % a s o t h e r. D e s p i t e

u n c e r t a i n t y a b o u t t h e m e a n i n g o f e t h n i c i ty ( K r i e g e r 2 0 0 3 ; P a r r a e t a l. 2 0 0 3 ) , g i v e n

s i g n i f i c a n t v a ri a ti o n i n e t h n i c i d e n t it y b e t w e e n o l d e r a n d y o u n g e r m o t h e r s ( T a b le

1 ) w e t r e a t e d i t a s a d u m m y c o n t r o l v a r ia b l e ( 1 = C a u c a s i a n ; 0 -- o t h e r ) . I n s t i t u t io n a l

e t h i c s c o m m i t t e e ap p r o v a l a n d i n d i v i d u a l in f o r m e d c o n s e n t w e r e o b t a i n e d p r i o r t o

a l l d a t a c o l l e c t i o n .

ssessment Tools

P a r t i c ip a n t s c o m p l e t e d o u r q u e s t i o n n a i r e d u r i n g a n i n t e r v i e w w i t h a r e s e a rc h

s t a f f m e m b e r . T w e n t y - fi v e p e r c e n t o f p a r t ic i p a n t s ' r e s p o n s e s w e r e v a l i d a te d b y c r o ss -r e f e r e n c i n g a g a i n s t d a t a p r o v i d e d i n a s e c o n d i n t e r v i e w w i t h a q u a l i f i e d s o c ia l w o r k e r .

F o r th e t o ta l o f 5 7 5 v a r i a b le s c o m p a r e d ( n o t a ll o f w h i c h a r e c o n s i d e r e d h e r e ) , th e r e

w a s a g r e e m e n t i n 5 6 4 ( 9 8 % ; k a p p a t e s t r a ti o = 0 .9 6 ) .

W e a s s e s s e d e x p o s u r e t o e a r l y s t re s s i n e i g h t w a y s : ( 1 ) re p o r t s o f v i o l e n c e b e -

t w e e n p a r e n t s w h i l e e a c h p a r t ic i p a n t w a s a ch i ld , u p t o a b o u t 1 0 y e a r s o l d ( y e s /

n o ) ; (2 ) p a r e n t a l d i v o r c e o r s e p a ra t i o n o r h a v i n g n o f a t h e r o r f a t h e r f i g u r e w h i l e

p a r t i c ip a n t s w e r e u p t o a b o u t 1 0 y e a r s o l d ( y e s /n o ; d i v o r c e / s e p a r a t i o n a n d n o

f a t h e r o r f a th e r - f i g u r e w e r e c o m b i n e d in o r d e r to e x p l o r e f o r p o s s i b l e f a t h e r - a b s e n c e

e f f e c t s ) ; a n d ( 3 - 7 ) a d j e c t i v e c h e c k l i s t s d e s c r i b i n g p a r t i c i p a n t s ' r e l a t i o n s h i p w i t hm o t h e r , m o t h e r ' s p e r s o n a l i ty , p a r t i c i p a n t s ' r e l a t i o n s h i p w i t h f a t h e r, f a th e r ' s p e r s o n -

a li ty , a n d p a r e n t s ' r e l a t i o n s h i p w i t h e a c h o t h e r u n t i l t h e p a r t ic i p a n t w a s u p t o a b o u t

a g e te n . T h e s e c h e c k l i s t s (T a b l e 2, a d a p t e d f r o m H a z a n a n d S h a v e r 1 9 8 7 ) c o n t a i n

w o r d s t h a t m i g h t b e u s e d t o d e s c r i b e p e r s o n a l it i e s a n d r e l a ti o n s h i p s , a n d p a r t i c i-

p a n t s w e r e a s k e d t o c h o o s e a l l t h a t a p p l ie d u n t i l t h e t im e t h e y w e r e u p t o a b o u t 1 0

y e a r s o l d . D e p e n d i n g o n th e w o r d s t h e y s e l ec t e d , p a r t i c ip a n t s w e r e s c o r e d a s h a v -

i n g p o s i t iv e , n e g a t i v e , o r m i x e d a t t it u d e s o r f e e l in g s a b o u t t h e r e l e v a n t p a r e n t

o r r e l a ti o n s h i p . L a s t, i f p a r t i c ip a n t s r e p o r t e d n o m o t h e r o r m o t h e r - f i g u r e . .. u p t o

a b o u t l 0 y e a rs o l d t h e y w e r e s c o r e d a s ( 8) m o t h e r a b s e n t . W e a ls o r e c o r d e d r e p o r t s

o f e i t h e r p a r e n t 's d e a t h u p t o a b o u t 1 0 y e a r s o l d b u t th e r e w a s o n l y o n e r e p o r t o f

a m o t h e r ' s d e a t h a n d f o u r o f t h e f i v e w h o r e p o r t e d f a th e r 's d e a t h a l s o r e p o r t e d n o

f a t h e r o r f a th e r - f ig u r e , s o p a r e n t' s d e a t h w a s d r o p p e d f r o m a ll a n a l y se s .



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2 4 4 H u m a n N a t u r e F a l l 2 0 0 5

Table 2 A d j e c t i v e C h e c k l i s ts f o r D e s c r ib i n g R e l a ti o n s h i p w i t h P a r e n ts a n dParen t s ' Pe r sona l i t i e s ( a f te r Hazan and Shave r 1987)

Adjectives fo r describing relationship w ith mo ther/fath er or mo ther-/father-figure:loving, affectionatecritical, rejectings tr ic t , dema ndingrespectful , acceptingattentive, caringunresponsive, disinterestedunderstanding, sympatheticintrusive, overprotective

Adjectives fo r describing m other/fath er or m other-/father-f igure 's personality:

happy, warm , l ikeable, funn ynervous, insecureweak, immaturerespected, co nfiden t , strongfair, flexibletroubled, hostile, angrycold, sad , depressedunpredictable, inconsistentse l f i sh , unfa i r

B e c a u s e l o w s o c i o e c o n o m i c s t a t u s i s o f t e n a s s o c i a t e d w i t h e a r l y c h i l d b e a r i n g( A l a n G u t t m a c h e r I n st i tu t e 1 9 9 8 ; G e r o n i m u s 1 9 8 7 , 1 9 9 4 ) a n d p r e f e r e n c e f o r c u r -

r e n t v s . f u t u r e p a y o f f s ( B a n f i e l d 1 9 7 4 ; L e i g h 1 9 8 6 ; L e w i s 1 9 6 7 ) , w e tr e a t e d c u r r e n t

S E S a s a p o t e n t i a ll y c o n f o u n d i n g v a r ia b l e, a s s e s s i n g i t i n t w o w a y s : r e c o r d i n g p a r -

t i c ip a n t s ' la s t c o m p l e t e d y e a r o f s c h o o l ( e d u c a t i o n , s c o r e d f r o m I t o 7 f o r c o m -

p l e t e d y e a r 7 t h r o u g h a n y p o s t - s e c o n d a r y e d u c a t i o n ) a n d c u r r e n t f a m i l y i n c o m e

i n A u s t r a li a n d o l la r s ( i n c o m e , s c o r e d f r o m 1 t o 3 f o r u n d e r $ 1 5 , 0 0 0 , $ 1 5 , 0 0 0 t o

$ 3 0 , 0 0 0 , a n d o v e r $ 3 0 , 0 0 0 , r e s p e c ti v e ly ) . E d u c a t i o n a n d i n c o m e w e r e h i g h l y

c o r r e l a t e d ( r - -- .5 5 ; p < . 00 1 ) , a n d o l d e r m o t h e r s r e p o r t e d s i g n i f i c a n t ly m o r e o f b o t h

( e d u c a t i o n : p < . 0 0 1 ; i n c o m e : p < . 0 0 1 ) .A g e a t m e n a r c h e w a s d e t e r m i n e d b y s i m p l e r e ca l l. W h i l e r e ca l l d a ta a re a l w a y s

o p e n t o q u e s t i o n , n u m e r o u s s t u d i e s s h o w t h a t r e c o l l e c t io n s o f a g e a t m e n a r c h e i n

i n d u s t r ia l s o c i e t i e s a re i n f a c t q u i t e a c c u r a t e , n o t o n l y f o r y o u n g e r w o m e n ( B e r g s t o n -

B r u c e f o r s 1 9 76 ; K o o a n d R o h a n 1 9 9 7; R e y m e r t 1 9 4 0; Y o u n g e t a l. 1 9 6 3 ) b u t f o r

o l d e r w o m e n a s w e l l ( D a m o n e t al. 1 9 6 9 ; L i v s o n a n d M c N e i l l 1 9 6 2; M u s t e t a l.

2 0 0 2 ; T r y g g v a d o t t i r e t a l. 1 9 9 4 ) . U n f o r t u n a t e l y , o u r i n s t it u t i o n a l e t h i c s c o m m i t t e e

d i s c o u r a g e d u s f r o m a s k i n g p a r t i c ip a n t s a b o u t a g e a t fi rs t s e x. W e a s s e s s e d a d u l t

( r o m a n t i c ) a t t a c h m e n t w i t h H a z a n a n d S h a v e r 's ( 1 9 8 7 ) C l o s e R e l a t i o n s h i p s Q u e s -

t i o n n a i r e ( t h r e e - f a c t o r v e r s i o n ) ( T a b l e 3 ) . E x p e c t e d l i f e s p a n w a s a s s e s s e d b y p a r -

t i c i p a n t s ' r e s p o n s e to th e q u e s t i o n , I f y o u h a d t o t a k e a g u e s s a b o u t h o w o l d y o u

w o u l d b e w h e n y o u d ie d , w h a t w o u l d y o u r g u e s s b e ? T h e r e w e r e n i n e c h o i ce s :

2 0 - 2 9 y e a r s u p t o 1 0 0 y ea r s o r m o r e . R e s p o n s e s w e r e c o d e d a t t h e m i d p o i n t

( e .g . , 2 0 - 2 9 y e a r s w a s c o d e d a s 2 5 , 1 0 0 y e a r s o r m o r e a s 10 5 ).



Early S tres s Pred ic ts Wom en s L i f e H is tory Tra it s

Table 3. C l o s e R e l a t io n s h i p s Q u e s t i o n n a i r e ( a f t e r H a z a n a n d S h a v e r 1 9 8 7 )

245

Read each o f the th ree se l f -desc r ip t ions be low (S ty le A, S ty le B, and S ty le C) and then t i ck the

one tha t bes t desc r ibes how you genera l ly fee l in your re la t ionsh ips w i th boyf r iends . No te : the

t e r m s c l o s e a n d i n t im a t e r e f e r t o your psychological o r emotional c loseness , no t necessa r i ly

to sexual in t imacy.

Style Self description

A I f ind i t r e la t ive ly easy to ge t c lose to o the rs and am co mfo r tab le depend ing on them.

I d o n ' t o f t e n w o r r y a b o u t b e i n g a b a n d o n e d o r a b o u t s o m e o n e g e t t in g t o o c l o s e t o m e .

I am somewha t uncomfor tab le be ing c lose to o the rs ; I f ind i t d i f f icu l t to t rus t them

comple te ly , d i f f icu l t to a l low my se l f to depend on them . I am ne rvou s when anyone

ge ts too c lose , and o f ten , love pa r tne rs wan t me to be more in t ima te than I f ee lc o m f o r t a b l e b e i n g .

I f ind tha t o the rs a re re luc tan t to ge t a s c lose a s I wou ld l ike . I o f ten wor ry tha t m y

par tne r doesn ' t r ea l ly love m e o r w on ' t wan t to s tay wi th m e . I wan t to merge com ple te ly

wi th ano the r pe rson , and th i s des i re so me t ime s sca res peop le away.

N o w p l e a s e r a t e each of these re la t ionsh ip s ty le s (S ty le A, S ty le B and S ty le C) accord ing to

how much you th ink each one ma tches the way you usua l ly fee l (o r th ink you wou ld fee l ) in

rom an t ic re la t ionsh ips w i th boyf r iends .

H o w M u c h L i k e M e ?

Not at all Som ewhat Very much

Style A 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Style B 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Style C 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

R E S U L T S

Independent Var iab les : Ear ly S t res s

O u r p a r t i c i p a n t s ' e x p e r i e n c e o f e a r l y s tr e s s ( u p t o a b o u t 1 0 y e a r s o l d ) i s p r e -

s e n t e d i n T a b l e 4 . B e c a u s e m o s t r e p o r t e d p o s i t i v e a t t it u d e s t o w a r d a n d r e l a t i o n s

w i t h a n d b e t w e e n p a r e nt s , n e g a t i v e a n d m i x e d r e s p o n s e s w e r e m e r g e d a n d a ll

a n a l y s e s u s e d j u s t p o s i t i v e a n d n o t p o s i t i v e c a t e g o r i e s .

D e p e n d e n t V a ria ble s: R e p r o d u c t i v e S t r a t e g i e s a n d M e c h a n i s ms

O u r d e p e n d e n t v a r i a b l e s w e r e a g e a t m e n a r c h e , a g e a t f i rs t b i r th , a d u l t a t ta c h -

m e n t , a n d e x p e c t e d l i fe s p a n ( T a b le 5 ). B e c a u s e o n l y s e v e n o f th e 1 00 w o m e n i d e n -

t i f i e d w i t h t h e i n s e c u r e - a m b i v a l e n t a d u l t a t t a c h m e n t s t y l e , t h e i n s e c u r e - a v o i d a n t

a n d - a m b i v a l e n t s t y le s w e r e m e r g e d a n d a ll a n a l y s e s u s e d j u s t s e c u r e a n d i n s e -

c u r e c a t e g o r i e s .



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e a c h o c c u r r e n c e o f t h e e i g h t k i n d s r e p o r t e d ( F i g u r e 1 . 2 A s T a b l e 7 s h o w s , t o t a l

e a r l y s tr e ss w a s p o w e r f u l l y a s s o c i a t e d w i t h a ll b u t o n e o f o u r d e p e n d e n t v a r ia b l e s

( a d u l t a t t a c h m e n t , p = . 0 59 ) , e v e n w i t h c o n s e rv a t i v e , t w o - t a i l e d t e st s . O u r c o n t ro l

v a r ia b l es , e d u c a t i o n a n d i n c o m e , w e r e a l s o s t r o n g l y c o r r e l a t e d w i t h a ll o f o u r d e -

p e n d e n t v a r ia b l e s e x c e p t a d u l t a t t a c h m e n t (T a b le 6 ). O n t h e o t h e r h a n d , o u r d u m m y

c o n t r o l v a r ia b l e, e t h n i c i t y ( C a u c a s i a n v s . o t h e r ) , w a s n o t r e l a te d to a n y o f o u r

i n d e p e n d e n t o r d e p e n d e n t v a r ia b l es , a n d , o f t h e c o n t r o l v a r ia b l es , w a s o n l y r e l a t e d

t o e d u c a t i o n , w i t h C a u c a s i a n s r e p o r t i n g f e w e r y e a r s o f e d u c a t i o n ( p = . 03 ) ( T a b le

8).

M ultivariate Ana lyses

W h i l e r e c o g n i z i n g t h a t r e c a l l m e a s u r e s a r e a l w a y s s u s p e c t a n d c o n c e i v a b l y i n -

f l u e n c e d b y t e m p e r a m e n t o r c u r r e n t c ir c u m s t a n c e s as m u c h o r m o r e t h a n a c t ua l

h i s t o r i c a l e v e n t s , f o r h e u r i s t i c p u rp o s e s - - i . e . , t o i d e n t i fy p o t e n t i a l c a u s a l p a t h w a y s

a n d i n t e r a c ti o n s a s g u i d e s f o r f u t u r e r e s e a r c h - - w e n o n e t h e l e s s p e r f o r m e d a s e ri e s

o f m u l t i p l e r e g re s s i o n a n a l y s e s w i t h t o t a l e a r l y s t re s s a s th e i n d e p e n d e n t v a r ia b l e

a n d ( w h e r e a p p r o p r i a te ) a g e a t m e n a r c h e , a g e a t f i rs t b ir t h , a d u l t a t ta c h m e n t , a n d

e x p e c t e d l i f e s p a n a s d e p e n d e n t v a r ia b l e s a n d e t h n i c it y , e d u c a t i o n , a n d i n c o m e a s

c o n t r o l v a ri a b le s . A s m e n t i o n e d , e t h n i c i t y w a s t r e a te d a s d u m m y v a r i a b le ( C a u c a -

s i a n = 1 ; o t h e r = 0 ) , a s w e re e d u c a t i o n (< y e a r 1 0 = 1 ; > y e a r 1 0 = 0 ) a n d i n c o m e (<

$ 1 5 , 0 0 0 = 1 ; > $ 1 5 , 0 0 0 = 0 ) . T o r e d u c e m u l t i p l e t e st i n g , a ll t w o -w a y i n t e r a c t io n sw e r e e n t e r e d a s s e p a r a t e b lo c k s a n d e x p l o r e d f u r t h e r i f t h e y s i g n i f i c a n t l y im p r o v e d

t h e m o d e l . R e s i d u a l p l o ts o f a ll r e g r e s s io n s w e r e e x a m i n e d f o r o u t l ie r s a n d s y s t e m -

a t ic v a r i a ti o n . A l l m u l t i p l e r e g r e s s i o n a n a l y s e s w e r e c o n d u c t e d i n b a c k w a r d s f a s h -

i o n w i t h e n t r y a n d r e m o v a l c r i te r i a o f p < . 05 a n d p > . 1 0.

Age at menarche M u l ti p l e l i n e a r r e g r e s s i o n a n a l y s e s w e r e u s e d t o e x p l o r e r e l a -

t i o n s a m o n g t o t a l e a r l y s tr e s s ( as t h e i n d e p e n d e n t v a ri a b l e ) , a g e a t m e n a rc h e ( a s t h e

d e p e n d e n t v a r i a b l e ) , a n d e t h n i c i t y , i n c o m e , a n d e d u c a t i o n ( a s c o n t ro l v a r i a b l e s ) .

A g e a t f i rs t b ir th , a d u l t a t t a c h m e n t , a n d e x p e c t e d l i f e s p a n w e r e n o t e n t e r e d b e c a u s ee a c h c o m e s a f t e r a g e a t m e n a r c h e a n d s o c o u l d n o t a f f e c t it. T o ta l e a r ly s t re s s w a s

e n t e r e d f i r s t ([3 = - . 2 3 7 , t = -3 . 4 3 , p = . 0 0 1) a n d a c c o u n t e d fo r 1 0 . 9 % o f t h e v a r i-

a n c e i n a g e a t m e n a r c h e . O u r t w o S E S v a r ia b le s , e d u c a t i o n a n d i n c o m e , w e r e t h e n

e n t e r e d i n a b l o c k , f o l l o w e d b y e t h n i c i t y . N e i t h e r c o n t r i b u t e d s i g n i f i c a n t l y t o t h e

v a r i a n c e i n a g e a t m e n a r c h e b e y o n d t h a t a c c o u n t e d f o r b y t o ta l e a r l y st re s s.

Age a t f i rs t bir th W e c o n d u c t e d a s e c o n d s e r ie s o f m u l t i p l e l i n e a r r e g re s s i o n a n a l y -

s e s w i t h t o ta l e a r l y s tr e s s, a g e a t m e n a r c h e , a d u l t a t t a c h m e n t , a n d e x p e c t e d l i f e s p a n

a s i n d e p e n d e n t v a r i a b l e s a n d a g e a t f i r s t b i r t h a s t h e d e p e n d e n t v a r i a b le . L o g a r i t h -

m i c t r a n s f o r m a t i o n o f a g e a t f ir s t b ir t h r e m o v e d s y s t e m a t i c v a r i a ti o n f r o m t h e r e -

s i d u a l p lo t . T o t a l e a r l y s t re s s ( 9 = - . 0 5 , t = -4 . 7 2 , p < . 0 0 1 ) a n d e x p e c t e d l if e s p a n (13

= . 0 0 4 , t = 2 . 6 7 , p = . 0 1 1 ) r e m a i n e d in th e m o d e l , e x p l a i n i n g 1 8 . 5 % a n d 7 . 1 % ,



E a r l y S t r e ss P r e d i c ts W o m e n s L i f e H i s t o r y T r a i t s 2 4 9

r ~

r ~

--~ o

v

r

0

0D --

V V

O

v v

V

< ~

O O

V

~3

9 " c'4

v v

O O

O

O




Table 7. T o t a l E a r l y S t r e s s a n d R e p r o d u c t i v e S t r a t e g i e s /M e c h a n i s m s

Age a t Age a t Expec t edMe narche Firs t B ir th L i fespan Adu l t A t tachm ent

r p t r p* r p* Sec ure Inse cure pC

Total ear ly s tress - .331 .001 - .4 52 <.001 - .2 62 .009 1 .7 3 .3 .002

A ge a t m ena rche .281 .005 .323 .00l 12.8 12.2 .059

Ag e a t f i rs t b ir th .320 .0 01 23.4 20.2 .012

Ex pec ted l i fespan 82.7 75.7 .026

* Tw o-tailed Pearson's rTwo-tailed independent sam ples t-tests

r e s p e c t iv e l y , o f t h e v a r i a n c e i n t h e n a t u r a l l o g o f a g e a t f i r s t b i r th . T h e w h o l e m o d e l

e x p l a i n e d 2 6 . 8 % o f t h e v a r i a n c e i n t h e n a t u r a l l o g o f a g e a t fi r s t bi rt h . E d u c a t i o n

a n d i n c o m e w e r e t h e n e n t e r e d a s a b l o c k , w i t h i n w h i c h e a c h p l a y e d a s i g n i f i c a n t

r o l e ( e d u c a t i o n : 13 = - . 1 6 2 , t = - 3 . 5 6 , p = . 0 0 1 ; i n c o m e : 13 = - . 0 0 3 , t = - 2 . 2 0 , p - -

. 03 ) , w i t h e d u c a t i o n a c c o u n t i n g f o r 1 1 . 8 % a n d i n c o m e 4 . 8 % o f t h e v a r i a n c e in t h e

n a t u r a l l o g o f a g e a t f i r s t b i r th . T o g e t h e r, a s a b l o c k , e d u c a t i o n a n d i n c o m e s i g n i f i -

c a n t l y i n c r e a s e d t h e a d j u s t e d R 2 f r o m 2 6 . 8 % t o 4 0 . 5 % ( F c h a n g e = 1 1 . 9 5 , p < . 0 0 1 ),

r e d u c i n g b u t n o t e l i m i n a t i n g t h e o r i g i n a l e f f e c t o f t o t a l e a r l y s t r e s s (13 = - . 0 2 7 , t =

- 2 . 6 0 , p = . 0 1 1 ) a n d e x p e c t e d l i f e s p a n (13 = . 0 0 3 , t = 2 . 0 4 , p = . 0 4 4 ), w h i c h e x -

Table 8. R e l a t i o n s a m o n g E t h n i c it y a n d R e p r o d u c t i v e S t r a te g i e s / M e c h a n i s m s , E d u c a -

t i o n , a n d I n c o m e

Independent, Dep enden t an dOther Control Variables

Ethnici ty du mm y variable)

Ca u c a s i a n ( n = 6 1 ) O t h e r ( n = 3 9 ) p

Total ear ly s tress 2 .23 2 .21 ns t

A ge a t m ena rche 12.51 12.84 ns ~

Age a t f i r s t b i r th 21 .48 23 .69 ns

Ad ult a t tach m ent (% secure) 65.57 78.38 ns ++

Exp ec ted l i f e span 79 .10 82 .44 ns

Ed ucat ion 4 .80 5 .59 .03 t

Inc om e 2 .21 1 .92 ns t

Two-tailed independent sam ples t-test+* Two-tailed chi-square test



Early Stress Predicts Wom en s Life Hist ory Traits 251

F igur e 1 Earlystressors by age group.

40

u3u~

3OI . -~ooE) )_=

1::o

2O

..r(-rqJ

oEL I

Mean = 2 39

. . . . . . . . . . . . . SD = 2 26 . . . . . .,~ n =100

,,<NN

x

I 1~ [ [ [ ~ ~ - - i - - [ ] Younger mothers

[~ Older others

Number of early stressors

plained 6.6 and 4.8 of the variance in the natural log of age at first birth, respec -

tively. Last entered was ethnicity, wh ich w as not an independent predictor of age at

first birth.

A du l t a t tachmen t Nex t, total early stress, age at menarche, age at first birth, and

expected lifespan were used as independent variables in binary logistic regression

analyses w ith adult attachment (secure vs. insecu re) as the dependen t variable. The

model containing main effects and all two-way interactions increased the adjusted

R 2 (Nagelkerke's) to .329 from that of the main effects mode l (R 2 =. 19 l; l ikelihoodratio: X2 = 22.42 , p < .005). W e then used m anual backward elim ination of interac-

tions and main effects. The most parsimonious model included an interaction be-

twe en ex pecte d lifesp an and total early stress ([3 = -. 03 4, X2 = 6.31, p -- .012) and

one bet we en age at menar che and total early stress ([3 = - .2 27 , X2 -_ 4.03, p = .045)

and explain ed 30.1 o f the variance in adult attachment. These interactions mean

that the effect of total early stress on the probability of insecure adult attachment

was mod ified by both expected lifespan and age at menarche, but in different ways.

First, total early stress increased the likelihood of insecure adult attachment, but

only for wom an w ith a short expected lifespan (r = .47,p = .002), explaining 22.1of the variance in the probability o f insecure adult attachment for this group. (Ex-

pected lifespan was split into three categories to explore this relationship; see Fig-

ure 2.) S econd , total early stress increase d the probability o f insecu re adult



252

Figure 2lifespan.

Hum an Nature Fall 2005

Relations amo ng total early stress, insec ure adult attachm ent, and expected

1.00 -

I 0.75

0.50

oI 0 , 2 5

0.00 -

\ \ ' . /, z /

\ / '

I / , , / ~

\ /' /

i z , m

0 2 4 6

Total E a rl y S t r e s s

Expected Lifespan55 79 yeQrs

-A-- 80 - gO years

V -- - 91 - 105 years

at tachment , but only for women with later age at menarche (r = .42, p = .033),explaining 17.6 of the variance in the probabi l i .ty of insecure adul t at tach me nt for

this group. (Age at mena rch e was spl it in to three catego ries to explore this relation-

sh ip ; see Figure 3 . ) No m ain ef fec t s rema ined in the f ina l model . W hen educat ion

and income w ere en tered (as a b lock) in to the regress ion on adu l t a t t achment they

did not s ig nif icant ly improve i t, nor did ethnicity .

Expected lifespan Final ly , addi t ional mul t iple l inear regress ion analyses were

con duc ted to explore interact ions amon g total early s tress, age at mena rche , age at

f i rs t b i r th , and adul t at tach men t as indep ende nt variables, wi th expe cted l i fespan asthe dependent var iab le . The model con ta in ing main ef fec t s and two-wa y in terac-

t ions s ignif ican t ly increase d the ad justed R: ( .251) relat ive to that o f the ma in ef-

fec t s model (R2 = . 143; F cha nge = 3.19, p =.00 7). We then used manu al backw ard

el iminat ion of interact ions and m ain effects . The m ost pars imonious mod el included

two intera ctions, on e betw ee n age at first birth and a dult at ta chm ent (13 = 1.510, t =

3.21, p = .002), wh ich explained 10.3 of the variance in expe cted l i fespan, and a

second be twe en age at f i rs t b i r th and age at me nar che (13 = - .273 , t = -2 .01 , p =

.047), whic h explained 4.3 . The mo del as a wh ole explained 26.3 of the vari -

ance in expected l i fespan. These interact ions mean that the effect of age at f i rs tb i r th on expected l i fespan was modi f ied by bo th adu l t a t t achment and age a t

menarche-- i .e . , age at f i rs t b i r th was posi t ively related to expected l i fespan, but

only for wom en report ing insecu re adul t at tachmen t (r = .603, p = .001) (Figure 4) ,



Early Stress Predicts Women s Life History Traits

Figure 3 Relations amo ng total early stress, insec ure adult attachme nt, and age atmenarche.

253

1 00

Eo

E

o 0.75m

E

o 0.50Q

e

6

.2 0.25

0e~

2a .

0 . 0 0

/

0 2 4 6

Total Early Stress

Age at Menarche8 11 years

A 12 or13 years

V 14 17 years

and age at me nar che was posi t ively associated with exp ected l i fespan, but only for

w om en with early first birth r = .572, p = .004). Ag e at first birth was split into

three categories to explore this relat ionship; see Figure 5) . No ma in effects rem aine d

in the f ina l model . When educat ion and incom e were en tered as a b lock) in to the

regression the y did not s ignif icant ly improve i t , nor did ethnici ty .

C O N C L U S I O N

As predicted, bivariate analyses showed that total early s t ress was s t rongly corre-

lated with ea ch o f our depen dent variables , age at men arch e, age at f i rs t bi r th , adul tat tachm ent , and exp ecte d l ifespan. Al tho ugh including our control variables in the

mult iple regression analyses painted a mo re com plex picture than the bivariate analy-

ses did, total early s t ress s t il l had s ignif icant m ain or interactive effects on al l of our

dependent variables except expected l i fespan, where i ts bivariate influence was

overwh elmed by age a t menarche , age a t f i r st b ir th, and adul t a t tachmen t Figures 4

and 5) . Our control variables , educat ion and income , had no effect on any of our

dependent variables except age at f i rs t bi r th , where they reduced the variance ex-

p la ined by to tal ear ly s t ress and e xpected l i fe span --w hich nonethe less cont inued to

have s ignif ican t indepen dent effects on age at f i rs t bi r th . O ur du m m y control vari -able, ethnici ty , had no effect on an y o f our depe nden t variables .

The r eason that the bivariate effect of total early s tress on exp ected l i fespan was

ove rwh elm ed by age at me narc he, age at f i rs t bi r th , and adul t at tachmen t , we sus-



254 Hu ma n Natu re / Fall 2005

Figure 4 Relations amo ng age at first birth, expected lifespan, and adult attachment.

1 1 0

1 0 0

e-

ra 90Q.m

. J80

0

0.X 70

W

6 0

A 9 / ' ,/ i

i

l

50 . . . . . 1 i i 1

1 0 1 5 2 0 2 5 3 0 3 5 4 0

ttachments e c u r e

9 insecure

ge at First Birth

pect , i s that age at f i rs t bi r th and adul t at tach ment are t rai ts not of individual wo me n

but o f their relat ionships wi th boyfriends or husbands. T hus, whi le too m uc h early

st ress may predispose a wom an to early mena rche a nd f i rs t bi rth and insecure adul t

at tachment , h er actual experience of an at tachm ent relat ionship that leads to child-

birth ma y exacerbate or ameliorate the effect of early stress on her expecte d l ifespan.

For example, working with longi tudinal data on more than 17,000 Bri t ish chi ldren

born during one w eek in 1958, Power et al . (2002) foun d that individual di fferences

in adul t psycholog ical dis t ress were a funct ion of th e cumu lat ive effect of mul-t iple adversi t ies experienc ed from chi ldho od (2002:1989). In l ike manner, we be-

l ieve that individual di fferences in expected l i fespan may reflect the cumulat ive

ef fec t o f mul t ip le s tressors - -and mecha nisms and agents fo r cop ing --exp er ienc ed

from chi ldhood. Indeed, short expected l i fespan may be one manifestat ion of psy -

chological dis t ress --much as Smith, Taylor , and Sloan (2001, discussed above)

found that expectat ions of longevi ty decreased as a funct ion of il l heal th and in-

creases in individual ' s funct ional l imitat ions, of which psychologica l dis t ress

may be on e com ponent . Al thoug h i t' s possible that wome n report ing early menarche,

early f i rs t sex, insecure adul t at tachment , and short expected l i fespan happen for

other reasons to report more early s t ress , our mul t iple regression analyses argue

against this possibil i ty. They are also consistent with predictions from life history

theory.



Early Stress Predicts Wom en s Life Histo ry Traits 255

F igure 5 Relations amo ng age at first menarche, expected lifespan, and age at first

birth.

t

D .W

. J

0Q)

UQ~O.)<

LU

100

90

80

70

60

V

\

: ~

v

/

/ , / ' 9

i

i i 7 - - - - i - - - -

10 12 14 10

ge at F irst Birth12 - 17 years

A 1 8 - 2 5 y e a r s

XT--- 26 - 37 years

ge at M enarche

D I S C U S S I O N

Evolut i on and D evelopm ent

We believe that our results accord with predictions from life history theory for

two reasons. The first is the power of life history theory. To the extent that the

subjective expe rience of early stress indexes environmental risk and uncertainty, it

would make or woul d have made) adaptive sense for wom en experiencing higherlevels of early stress to maximize current reproduction, which early menarche and

first birth clearly do. If, as Bel sky et al. 199 1) first proposed, the attachm ent pro-

cess is part of the mechanism for maximizing current reproduction, then insecure

adult attachment and short expecte d lif espan insecurity) migh t be expecte d to fol-

low. While it also makes adaptive sense to maximize current reproduction in the

absence of disease and malnutrition, their effect on age at menarche was an induc-

tive discovery. Nor do the bioassay or absence of impairment models make any

particular claim about associated psychological variables like adult attachment or

expected lifespan. In contrast, the possibility that early psychosocial stress mightaffect age at menarche and first birth was a straightforward deduction from life

history theory. 3 Since there can be no adaptation w ithout a mech anis m for doing

adaptive work, and mec han ism s must develop, and, as Belsky et al. 1991) pointed



256 H u m a n N a t u re Fa l l 2 5

ou t , t he a t t a c hm e n t p r oc e s s i s a good c a nd i da t e m e c h a n i s m f o r t he de ve l opm e n t a l

e n t r a i nm e n t o f a l t e r na ti ve r e p r oduc t i ve s tr a te g i e s, ou r j o i n t a da p t a t i on i s t /m e c ha -

n i st m o d e l m a k e s p a r t i cu l a r c l ai m s a b o u t b o t h t h e a d a p ti v e f u n c t i o n o f m a x i m i z i n g

c u r r e n t r e p r o d u c t i o n a n d t h e p s y c h o b i o l o g i c a l a n d d e v e l o p m e n t a l m e c h a n i s m s

w h e r e by t h is f unc t i on m a y be a c h i e ve d .

I n a d d i t i on t o l i fe h i s t o r y t he o r y ' s pow e r , how e ve r , w e t h i nk ou r r e s u l ts a c c o r d

w i t h p r e d i c t i ons be c a us e ou r hos p i t a l -ba s e d s a m p l e i s m or e a pp r op r i a t e f o r e xp lo r -

i n g t h e e f f e ct s o f e a r ly e n v i r o n m e n t a l r is k a n d u n c e r t a in t y o n t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f

r e p r oduc t i ve s tr a te g i e s t ha n a l m os t a ny o t h e r - - c e r t a i n l y m or e t ha n t he u s u a l a lt er -

na t ive o f a un i ve r s i t y s a m p l e . T h i s i s be c a us e i t is i n t he na t u r e o f un i ve r s it y s tu -

de n t s t o be r e la t ive l y p r iv i l e ge d c om pa r e d w i t h pa t i e n t s a t l a rge , pub l i c m a t e r n i t y

h o s p it a ls , w h i c h s e rv e w o m e n f r o m a m u c h w i d e r ra n g e o f so c i o e c o n o m i c b a c k -

g r o u n d s t h a n m o s t u n i v er si ti es . E v e n m o r e , u n i v e r s it y w o m e n t e n d t o p o s t p o n e

chi ldbea r ing , and ac tua l age a t f i r s t b i r th i s be t t e r fo r t e s t ing hypo these s abou t age

a t f i r st b i rt h t ha n c o r r e l a te s l i ke a ge a t m e na r c h e a nd f i rs t s e x , e s pe c i a ll y w he r e

con t racep t ion is w ide ly ava i lab le .

Early S tress Father Abs ence a nd T ime Preference

A p e r e n n i al q u e s t i o n i n t h e a n t h r o p o l o g y a n d p s y c h o l o g y o f a d o l e s c e n c e is t h e

r o l e o f f a t he r a bs e nc e ( f o r r e v i e w s s ee Be l s ky e t a l. 1991; Ch i s ho l m 1999a; D r a pe r

a nd H a r pe n d i ng 1982; E l li s 2004 ; G r a i nge r 2004 ) . T he r e i s good e v i de n c e t ha tf a t he r a bs e nc e i s a s s oc i a te d w i t h e a r l y m e na r c he a nd yo un g a ge a t f i r st s e x a nd f i r s t

p r e gna nc y . Bu t i s t h i s be c a us e t he r e is s om e t h i ng a bou t f a t he r a bs e nc e i n a nd o f

i t s e l f t ha t m a k e s a d i f f e r e nc e ? O r is i t the p o l i t ic a l - e c onom i c , f a m i l y - dy na m i c , a nd

s oc i a l - e m o t i ona l c a us e s a nd c o r r e l a te s o f fa t he r a bs e nc e t ha t m a k e a d i f f e r e nc e ? I f

the l a t te r , t hen fa the r absen ce i s jus t o ne o f a range o f ea rly s t re s sors tha t can acce l -

e ra t e pu ber ty and adu l t soc iosexu a l behavior . E l l is and h i s co l l eag ues (E l l is 2004;

El l i s and Garb er 2000; E l l is e t al . 1999 , 2003 ) have recen t ly rev ived th i s long-

s t a nd i ng qu e s t i on i n a s e r ie s o f a na l y s es o f l ong i t ud i na l da ta ba s e s. A f t e r c on t r o l l i ng

for a num be r of ea r ly s t re s sors in g i r l s ' li ves , t hey fo un d tha t fa the r -absen t g i r l s hade a r li e r m e na r c h e a nd / o r w e r e youn ge r w he n t he y f i r s t ha d s e x t ha n f a t he r - p r e s e n t

g i rl s . T h e y c on c l ude t ha t w ha t t he y c a ll t he l i fe c ou r s e a dve r s i t y m od e l ha s i ts

p l a c e , bu t t he y be li e ve the i r ' e vo lu t i ona ry m od e l T e xp l a i n s m o r e : f a t he r a bs e nc e

i s i m p or t a n t in i ts ow n r i gh t a nd no t j u s t a s a p r oxy f o r it s m a ny c o r r e l a te s ( E l li s e t

a l . 2003:818) .

T h i s m a y w e l l be s o , a nd i t w o u l d be a m os t i m po r t a n t f i nd i ng i f bo r ne ou t , bu t i n

ou r op i n i on m o r e w or k ne e ds t o be done . F i rs t, E l l is a nd c o l l e a gue s s t a te t ha t t he

ba s i s f o r t he i r f a t he r -a bs e nc e m od e l is tha t e vo l u t i ona r y p s yc ho l og i s t s ha ve hy -

po t he s i z e d t ha t t he de v e l opm e n t a l pa t hw a ys un de r l y i ng va r i a ti on i n da ug h t e r s ' re -p r oduc t i ve s t r a t e g i e s a r e e s pe c i a l l y s e ns i t i ve t o t he f a t he r ' s r o l e i n t he f a m i l y

( 2003 : 802 ). H ow e ve r , t he y d o no t e xa m i ne t he r a t iona l e f o r t h i s hypo t he s i s , a nd

g i v e n r e c e n t th i n k i n g a b o u t t h e r o l e o f c o o p e r a ti v e b r e e d in g i n h u m a n e v o l u t io n



Ea rly Stress Predicts W omen s Life Histo ry Traits 257

( H r d y 1 9 99 , 2 0 0 5 ) a n d t h e m y r i a d f a m i ly ty p e s k n o w n , m a n y o f w h i c h s e e m t o b e

(or have been) cu l tu ral adapta t ions to env i ronm enta l r i sk and uncer t a in ty (e .g ., Bu r ton

1990; Ger on im us 1987 , 1994, 1996; Gra ing er 2004; Lan cas te r 1997; LeV ine 1987;

Ro be r t s on 1991 ; S t a c k 1974) , w e s u s pe c t tha t t he i r f oc us on f a the r s in a nd o f t he m -

s e l ve s m a y be m i s p l a c e d . S e c ond , in ou r op i n i on E l l is a nd c o l l e a gue s o f f e r no c on -

v i n c i n g m e c h a n i s m w h e r e b y f a t h e r a b s e n c e m i g h t a f f ec t a g e a t f i r st s e x . T h e y

m e n t i o n the pos s i b i l i t y o f s oc ia l l e a r n i ng , phe r om one s , a nd be ha v i o r ge ne t i c e f-

f e c ts bu t o f f e r no e v i de nc e f o r a ny . F u r t he r m or e , i n h i s r e c e n t s t udy o f 10 ,847 U . S .

w o m e n Q u i n l a n ( 2 0 0 3 ) f o u n d t h at , c o m p a r e d w i t h w o m e n f r o m i n ta c t f a m i li e s,

t h o s e w h o l iv e d in m o t h e r - o n l y r f a t he r - on l y f a m i l i e s f o r s om e t i m e be f o r e t he y

w e r e s ix ha d s i gn i f i c a n t ly e a rl ie r m e na r c he . N o r w a s t he r e a ny d i f f e r e nc e i n a ge a t

f ir s t s ex b e t w e e n w o m e n w h o l iv e d i n m o t h e r - o n l y a n d t h o s e w h o l iv e d i n f a th e r-

on l y f a m i l ie s be f o r e a ge s ix . T h i rd , a ge a t m e na r c h e w a s n o t i nc l ude d i n a ll o f E ll is

e t a l . ' s s tudies , so i t ' s s t i l l not ent i re ly c lear how ear ly s t ress and fa ther-absence

var i ab les in t e rac t w i th th i s kn ow n inf luen ce on age a t f i r s t s ex .

Unfor tuna te ly , our d a ta a re no be t t e r fo r und ers t and ing how ea r ly s t re ss an d fa the r -

a bs e nc e m i gh t i n t e r a ct w i t h a ge a t m e na r c h e a nd a ge a t f i r s t se x be c a us e ou r i n s t i-

t u t iona l e th i c s c om m i t t e e d i s c ou r a ge d u s f r om a s k i ng a bou t a ge a t f ir s t se x . O ur

da t a do , how e ve r , o f f e r a ba s i s f o r i n f o r m e d s pe c u l a t i on . F i r s t , w om e n w ho r e -

po r t e d f a t he r a bs e nc e , no f a t he r -f i gu r e , o r pa r e n ta l d i vo r c e / s e pa r a t i on up t o a bou t

10 ye a r s o l d ( F a bs e n t / no F f i gu r e / d i vo r c e / s e pa r a t i on ) ha d s i gn i f i c a n t ly e ar l ie r

m e na r c he , w e r e s i gn i f i c a n t l y yo ung e r w he n t he y f i r s t ga ve b i rt h , w e r e s i gn i f i c a n t l ym or e l i ke ly t o i de n t i f y w i t h t he i n s e c u r e a du l t a t t a c hm e n t s ty l e , a nd e xp e c t e d s i g -

n i f i c a n t l y s ho r t e r l i f e s pa ns t ha n o t he r w om e n . S e c ond , be c a us e ou r m u l t i p l e r e -

g r e s s i on a na l y s e s s how e d tha t t o t a l e a rl y s tr e s s w a s s t r ong l y a nd i nde p e nde n t l y

a s s oc i a t e d w i t h bo t h a ge a t m e na r c he a nd a ge a t f i rs t b i r t h ( w h i c h a re f r e que n t l y

as soc ia t ed w i th age a t f i r s t s ex , a t l eas t i n the absenc e o f cont rac ept ion ) , and tha t

bo t h t o t a l e a r l y s tr e ss a n d e x pe c t e d l i f e s pa n w e r e s t r ong l y a nd i nd e pe nd e n t l y a s s o -

c ia t ed wi th ag e a t f i r s t b i r th , we spe cula te tha t expec ted l i fe span and age a t f i r s t sex

m i gh t be on i n de p e nd e n t c a us a l pa t hw a ys w i t h r e ga r d t o e a r ly s t r e ss i n ge ne r a l a nd

fa the r absen ce in pa r t icu la r . In sup por t o f th i s hyp othes i s i s Mische l ' s (1958 , 1961 a ,196 l b ; M i s c he l , S ho da a nd R odr i gu e z 1989 ) f i nd i ng t ha t w e l l be f o r e t he y r e a c he d

pub e r t y bo t h f a t he r- a bs e n t boys a nd g i rl s w e r e s i gn i f ic a n t l y m or e l ike l y t ha n f a the r -

p r e s e n t c h i l d r e n to a c c e p t a s m a l l , i m m e d i a t e r e w a r d c om pa r e d w i t h a l a r ge r bu t

s om e w h a t de la ye d r ew a r d . D e l a y o f g r a t i f i c a t ion i s c onc e p t ua l l y r e l a te d t o e xp e c t e d

l i fe s pa n i n t ha t bo t h a r e m a n i f e s t a t i ons o f ti m e p r e f e r e nc e ( c u r r e n t v s. f u t u r e ). Bu t

i f f a the r absence i s a un iqu e s t re s sor in i ts ow n r igh t , and no t jus t a p roxy for a l l the

o t he r s, t he que s t i on t he n i s how a nd w hy i t is un i que , a nd w hy s o m a ny o t he r e a rl y

s t re s sors a l so a f fec t age a t menarche , age a t f i r s t s ex , adul t a t t achment , and ex-

pe c t e d l i f e s pa n (t i m e p r e f e r e nc e ) , a nd w hy f a t he r a bs e nc e a f f e ct s t i m e p r e f e r e n c ein prepub er t a l boy s as we l l a s g i r l s.

W e be l i e ve t ha t t he a n t h r opo l ogy , p s yc ho l ogy , a nd b i o l ogy o f ti m e p r e f e r e nc e

w i l l be p r oduc t i ve a r e a s f o r f u t u r e r e s e a r c h o n t he r e l a ti ons a m on g e a r l y s t r es s ,




fa the r absence , and age a t menarch e , f i r s t sex , and f i rs t b i r th . T im e pre fe rence , in

the f o r m o f t he t r a de o f f be twe e n c u r r e n t a nd f u tu re r e p r oduc t ion , is t he c o r e o f l i fe

h is tory theory . Ag e a t f i r s t r eprodu c t ion i s a key l i f e h is tory t r ai t and pe rhaps the

ta rge t of se lec t ion dr iv ing the o the rs . Envi ron m enta l r i sk and uncer ta in ty de te rm ine

loca l mor ta l i ty ra tes and reg imes , which in turn de te rmine the opt ima l t r adeof f

be twe e n c u r r e n t a nd f u tu r e r e p r oduc t ion a nd thus the de ve lopm e n t o f r e p r oduc tive

s t rateg ies for maxim iz ing one or the o the r (on a cont inuum , of course ) . But in orde r

for in forma t ion about en vi ronm enta l ri sk and un cer ta in ty to en t ra in the loca l op t i -

m a l reproduc t ive s t ra tegy they must be represen ted in the phenotyp e . The ques t ion

now is how? H ow a re ch i ldren s exper iences o f ea r ly s t re ss represented in the i r

de ve lop ing psyc ho ne ur oe ndo c r ino logy a nd in t er na l mod e l s o f s e l f a nd o the rs i n

a t tachm ent re la tions? And how do such representa t ions a f fec t the i r age a t f i r s t r e-

produc t ion , adul t a ttachm ent re la t ions , and t im e pre fe rence?

T h i s wo r k was su p p o r t ed b y T h e U n iv e r s i t y o f Me lb o u r n e Dep a r tm en t o f Ob s te t r i c s an d Gy n aeco lo g y .

W e a l so g r a t e f u l ly ack n o wled g e th e d iv e r se k in d s o f h e lp p r o v id ed b y K i r s t en Black , L o u i se T an ,

An g e la S t ee l e , Dav id Bu t l er , Ro b Qu in lan , V ic to r i a K . B u r b an k , L in c Sch m i t t , L y n Beaz ley , Sa rah

Hr d y , an d th e an o n y m o u s r e f e r ee s .

Jam es S . Ch i sh o lm i s P r o f e sso r in t h e Sch o o l o f An a to m y an d H u m an Bio lo g y a t t h e Un iv e r s i t y o f

W es tem A u s t r a l ia . He i s an an th r o p o lo g i s t wh o se in t e r e s ts l i e i n t h e f i e ld s o f h u m an b eh av io r a l b io l -

ogy , evo lu t ionary eco logy , l i fe h is to ry theory , and paren ta l investment theory , where he focuses on

in f an t so c i a l - em o t io n a l d ev e lo p m en t , t h e d ev e lo p m en t o f r ep r o d u c t iv e s t r a t eg ie s , an d th e in t eg r a t io n

o f ev o lu t io n a r y , d ev e lo p m en ta l , an d cu l tu r a l p sy ch o lo g y an d p u b l i c h ea l th .

Ju l i e A . Qu in i iv an is Asso c ia t e P r o f e sso r i n Ob s te t r i c s an d G y n aeco lo g y a t th e Un iv e r s i t y o f M e lb o u r n e

an d He ad o f t h e Ma te r n i ty Ca r e P r o g r am a t th e Ro y a l W o m en ' s Ho sp i t a l , Me lb o u r n e . He r i n t e r e s t s a r e

t een ag e p r eg n an cy , d o m es t i c v io l en ce , ch i ld ab u se p r ev en t io n , an d h ig h - r i sk p r eg n an cy .

Ro d n ey W . Pe te r sen i s Sen io r L ec tu r e r in Ob s te t r ic s an d G y n aeco lo g y at t h e Un iv e r s i t y o f M e lb o u r n e

an d S en io r Co n su l t an t i n Ob s te t r i c s an d Gy n aec o lo g y a t t h e Ro y a l W o m en ' s Ho sp i t a l an d S u n sh in e

Ho sp i t a l i n M e lb o u r n e . H i s i n t e re s t s ar e i n p sy ch o so c ia l a sp ec t s o f wo m en ' s h ea l th an d can ce r .

Dav id A . C o a l l i s a Ph .D . s tu d en t i n t h e S ch o o l o f An a to m y an d H u m an Bio lo g y a t t h e Un iv e r s i t y o f

W es te r n Au s t r a l i a . H i s m a in in t e r e s t l i e s in t h e ap p l i ca t io n o f ev o lu t io n a r y th eo r y wi th in an ep id em io -

lo g ica l f r am ewo r k . He i s cu r r en t ly wo r k in g o n th e sy n th es i s o f l i f e h i s to r y th eo r y , p a r en ta l in v es tm en tth eo ry , an d p a r en t - o f f sp r in g co n f l i c t t h eo r y in ex p lo r in g f ac to r s t h a t i n f lu en ce v a r i a t i o n in h u m an

b i r th we ig h t an d p l acen ta l we ig h t .

N O T S

1. W o r th m an ( 1 9 9 9 ) co n t r a s t s h e r ab sen ce o f im p a i r m en t m o d e l o f m en a r ch ea l ag e wi th wh a tsh e ca l l s an ad ap ta t io n i s t m o d e l . On Co le ' s l o g i c , h owev er , t h e ab sen ce o f im p a i r m en t m o d e l

i s i t se l f an ad ap ta t io n i s t m o d e l .2 . W e d id n o t ex am in e th e in te r n a l co n s i s t en cy o f th i s su m m ar y m e asu r e f o r t h r ee r ea so n s : ( 1 ) e a r ly

st ress i s un l ike ly to be one -d im ensio nal (Sarason e t a l . 1978; Tennant and And rew s 1976) , (2 ) our

e ig h t m easu r e s we r e ex p l i c i t l y d e s ig n ed to a s se ss d i f f e r en t p o ten t i a l s t r e sso r s , an d ( 3 ) s tu d ie s

th a t u se co u n t s o f e a r ly s t r e s so r s d o n o t g e n e r a l ly ca lcu l a t e t h e co e f f i c i en t a lp h a ( Co h en e t a l .

1993) , an d whe n they do i t i s p red ic tab ly low (W aaktaar e t a l . 2004).

3 . W hi le Belskry e t a l . (1991) and Barkow (1984) were the f i r s t to rea l ize tha t evo lu t ionary theo ry

m ig h t ex p la in wh y ea r ly s t r e s s was a sso c i a t ed wi th e a r ly m en a r ch e , n e i th e r f r am ed th e i r p r ed ic -



Early Stress Predicts W omen s Life Histor y Traits 259

4.

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cur ren t - fu tu re t radeof f .

T h e l i f e co u r se ad v e r s i t y m o d e l , o f co u rse , i s i t se l f an ev o lu t io n a r y m o d e l .

R E F E R E N C E S

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