Disorganized attachment and reproductive strategies

2009 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew J. Lewis ◽  
Gregory Tooley
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Life History ◽  
Middle Childhood ◽  
Parental Investment ◽  
Reproductive Strategies ◽  
Life History Theory ◽  
Disorganized Attachment ◽  
Attachment Patterns ◽  
Investment Theory ◽  
Parental Investment Theory

AbstractDel Giudice provides an extension of the life history theory of attachment that incorporates emerging data suggestive of sex differences in avoidant male and preoccupied female attachment patterns emerging in middle childhood. This commentary considers the place of disorganized attachment within this theory and why male children may be more prone to disorganized attachment by drawing on Trivers's parental investment theory.

Attachment patterns of homeless youth: Choices of stress and confusion

2009 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-33
Author(s):  
Min Ju Kang ◽  
Michael Glassman
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Life History ◽  
High Risk ◽  
Risk Behaviors ◽  
Reproductive Strategies ◽  
Homeless Youth ◽  
Evolutionary Model ◽  
High Risk Behaviors ◽  
Attachment Patterns ◽  
Youth Population

AbstractThis commentary explores the reproductive strategies and attachment patterns among homeless youths. Del Giudice's integrated evolutionary model is applied to a homeless youth population that must function in ecological settings of constant high risk and stress. Different reproductive needs result in different patterns of high-risk behaviors. Intervention considering the sex differences, life history, and early caregiver–child relationships is suggested.

Sex, attachment, and the development of reproductive strategies

2009 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Del Giudice
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Life History ◽  
Middle Childhood ◽  
Environmental Risk ◽  
Reproductive Strategies ◽  
Peer Group ◽  
Evolutionary Model ◽  
Adaptive Plasticity ◽  
Life History Strategies ◽  
Trade Offs

AbstractThis target article presents an integrated evolutionary model of the development of attachment and human reproductive strategies. It is argued that sex differences in attachment emerge in middle childhood, have adaptive significance in both children and adults, and are part of sex-specific life history strategies. Early psychosocial stress and insecure attachment act as cues of environmental risk, and tend to switch development towards reproductive strategies favoring current reproduction and higher mating effort. However, due to sex differences in life history trade-offs between mating and parenting, insecure males tend to adopt avoidant strategies, whereas insecure females tend to adopt anxious/ambivalent strategies, which maximize investment from kin and mates. Females are expected to shift to avoidant patterns when environmental risk is more severe. Avoidant and ambivalent attachment patterns also have different adaptive values for boys and girls, in the context of same-sex competition in the peer group: in particular, the competitive and aggressive traits related to avoidant attachment can be favored as a status-seeking strategy for males. Finally, adrenarche is proposed as the endocrine mechanism underlying the reorganization of attachment in middle childhood, and the implications for the relationship between attachment and sexual development are explored. Sex differences in the development of attachment can be fruitfully integrated within the broader framework of adaptive plasticity in life history strategies, thus contributing to a coherent evolutionary theory of human development.

Synthesizing life history theory with sexual selection: Toward a comprehensive model of alternative reproductive strategies

2009 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenée James Jackson ◽  
Bruce J. Ellis
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Life History ◽  
Reproductive Strategies ◽  
Life History Theory ◽  
Intrasexual Competition ◽  
Comprehensive Model ◽  
Attachment Patterns ◽  
Specific Attachment ◽  
The Individual

AbstractDel Giudice's model of sex-specific attachment patterns demonstrates the usefulness of infusing life history theory with principles of sexual selection. We believe a full synthesis between the two theories provides a foundation for a comprehensive model of alternative reproductive strategies. We extend Del Giudice's ideas based on our own program of research, focusing specifically on the importance of intrasexual competition and the individual phenotype during development.

scholarly journals Parental investment in child health in sub-Saharan Africa: a cross-national study of health-seeking behaviour

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 150460 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Uggla ◽  
Ruth Mace
Keyword(s):  
Health Status ◽  
Child Health ◽  
Birth Order ◽  
Parental Investment ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Health Seeking Behaviour ◽  
Health Seeking ◽  
Investment Theory ◽  
Parental Investment Theory ◽  
Sub Saharan

Parents face trade-offs between investing in child health and other fitness enhancing activities. In humans, parental investment theory has mostly been examined through the analysis of differential child outcomes, with less emphasis on the actions parents take to further a particular offspring’s condition. Here, we make use of household data on health-seeking for children in a high mortality context where such behaviours are crucial for offspring survival. Using Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data from 17 sub-Saharan African countries, we examine whether maternal factors (age, health, marital status) and child factors (birth order, health, sex, age) independently influence parental investment in health-seeking behaviours: two preventative behaviours (malaria net use and immunization) and two curative ones (treating fever and diarrhoea). Results indicate that children with lower birth order, older mothers and mothers with better health status have higher odds of investment. The effects of a child’s sex and health status and whether the mother is polygynously married vary depending on the type of health-seeking behaviour (preventative versus curative). We discuss how these results square with predictions from parental investment theory pertaining to the state of mothers and children, and reflect on some potential mechanisms and directions for future research.

Developmental transformations in attachment in middle childhood

2009 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn A. Kerns
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Social Context ◽  
Middle Childhood ◽  
Reproductive Strategies ◽  
Biological Factors ◽  
Fundamental Nature ◽  
Target Article ◽  
The Social ◽  
Developmental Transformations

AbstractThe target article proposes a model to explain the emergence of sex differences in attachment in middle childhood and their implications for reproductive strategies. While biological factors are prominent in the model, little is said about the social context of middle childhood and its contributions. There is also a need to clarify the fundamental nature of attachment in middle childhood.

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