Sibling competition in Blue Tits (Cyanistes caeruleus) is stronger in homozygous broods

The Auk ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 136 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Morales ◽  
Iván Acevedo ◽  
Annie Machordom
Keyword(s):  
Mate Selection ◽  
Brood Size ◽  
Decision Rules ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Sibling Competition ◽  
Family Interactions ◽  
Sibling Conflict ◽  
Cyanistes Caeruleus ◽  
Behavioral Parameter ◽  
Affected Parent

Abstract Heterozygosity affects mate selection and can modulate interactions among family members and their fitness-related decisions. We studied whether nestling heterozygosity affected parent–offspring interactions and sib–sib competition in the Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) while controlling for the degree of relatedness among nestlings. Demanding environmental conditions might make the detection of heterozygosity-fitness correlations easier. Thus, we also investigated whether the decision rules of family members according to offspring heterozygosity were affected by brood size, as a proxy of the strength of sibling conflict. We found that chick individual heterozygosity was positively although weakly associated with individual body mass. Mean brood heterozygosity did not predict fledging success, but broods that fledged more chicks showed a higher number of less common alleles. Interestingly, fathers, but not mothers, favored heterozygous broods with many nestlings, that is, heterozygous broods with higher potential for sibling conflict. Moreover, the lower the mean brood heterozygosity the stronger the begging intensity when parents were absent, regardless of brood size. Finally, the degree of relatedness among nestlings was not associated with any behavioral parameter, supporting a more prominent role for heterozygosity in shaping intra-family interactions. Our findings suggest that offspring heterozygosity determines sex-specific rules of parental care and that genetic diversity is associated with lower sibling competition.

scholarly journals Experimental evidence that UV/yellow colouration functions as a signal of parental quality in the blue tit

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge García-Campa ◽  
Wendt Müller ◽  
Judith Morales
Keyword(s):  
Behavioural Change ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Life History Stage ◽  
Family Interactions ◽  
Blue Tit ◽  
Cyanistes Caeruleus ◽  
Quality Signal ◽  
Parental Quality ◽  
Behavioural Strategies

AbstractIn bi-parental species, reproduction is not only a crucial life-history stage where individuals must take fitness-relevant decisions, but these decisions also need to be adjusted to the behavioural strategies of a partner. Hence, communication is required, which could be facilitated by condition-dependent signals of parental quality. Yet, these traits have (co-)evolved in multiple contexts within the family, as during reproduction different family members may coincide and interact at the site of breeding. In this study we explore whether a condition-dependent trait acts a quality signal and regulates intra-family interactions in a bird species, the blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus). As a family is a complex network where signals could be perceived by multiple receivers, we expected that experimentally blocking the reflectance of an adult’s UV/yellow colouration of breast feathers may affect the behavioural strategies of all family members. We found an increase of parental investment in nests with an UV-blocked adult, as the partner compensated for the perceived lower rearing capacity. As the UV-blocked adult did not change its provisioning behaviour, as was to be expected, their partner must have responded to the (manipulated) signal but not to a behavioural change. However, offspring did not co-adjust their begging intensity to a signal of parental quality. Opposite to adults, we propose that offspring respond to the behaviour but not to the parental signal. Overall, our results show experimentally at the first time that UV/yellow colouration of blue tits acts as a quality signal revealing the rearing capacity to mates.

‘Look it Daddy’

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 98-119
Author(s):  
Darcey K. Searles
Keyword(s):  
Young Children ◽  
Family Life ◽  
American English ◽  
Video Conferencing ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Family Interactions ◽  
Life Data ◽  
To Receive

Video-mediated technologies enable families with young children to participate in interactions with remote family members. This article examines how a family with young children uses the affordances of video conferencing to 'show' items or themselves. Findings indicate that there are two types of shows in these remote family interactions: those that are designed to receive identification, and those that are designed to receive appreciation and/or assessment. These shows are also often collaboratively produced between a child and her co-present parent. Finally, this paper considers the implications of these shows for our understanding of how families remotely participate in family life. Data are in American English.

scholarly journals Family Interactions Regarding Fathers’ Smoking and Cessation in Shanghai, China

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 199-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carla J. Berg ◽  
Pinpin Zheng ◽  
Michelle C. Kegler
Keyword(s):  
Smoking Prevalence ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Spousal Support ◽  
Gender Disparities ◽  
Work Culture ◽  
Family Interactions ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Small Children ◽  
Marital Interactions ◽  
The Family

Introduction: Spousal support predicts smoking cessation. China is the world's largest consumer of tobacco, with drastic differences in smoking prevalence among men and women. Thus, understanding marital interactions around husbands’ smoking has implications for cultures with similarly large gender disparities in smoking.Aims: We examined interactions among family members regarding husbands’ smoking in homes with small children in Shanghai.Methods: In Spring 2013, we conducted in-person semi-structured interviews among 13 male smokers and 17 female nonsmokers recruited from an urban and a suburban community in Shanghai.Results/Findings: To encourage husbands’ cessation or reduction, some women reported intervening either directly or indirectly through their children, emphasizing the health consequences for the smoker and the family. Some women reported not conversing about cessation due to concern about conflict, tolerance, or resignation. Women reported that their husbands’ responses to anti-smoking messages from family members included promises to quit in the future or noting the strength of the nicotine addiction and the disadvantages of quitting. Men reported the importance of smoking in work/culture and argued against the research about the harms of smoking.Conclusions: Interventions targeting motivators for cessation among men and to support women in encouraging their husbands’ cessation should be developed.

scholarly journals What Matters to Patients and Their Families During and After Critical Illness: A Qualitative Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-20
Author(s):  
Catherine L. Auriemma ◽  
Michael O. Harhay ◽  
Kimberley J. Haines ◽  
Frances K. Barg ◽  
Scott D. Halpern ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Decision Rules ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Life Quality ◽  
Patient Comfort ◽  
Patient Centered ◽  
Surrogate Outcomes ◽  
Constant Pain ◽  
Centered Care ◽  
Family Centered

Background Despite increased emphasis on providing higher-quality patient- and family-centered care in the intensive care unit (ICU), there are no widely accepted definitions of such care in the ICU. Objectives To determine (1) aspects of care that patients and families valued during their ICU encounter, (2) outcomes that patients and families prioritized after hospital discharge, and (3) outcomes perceived as equivalent to or worse than death. Methods Semistructured interviews (n = 49) of former patients of an urban, academic medical ICU and their family members. Two investigators reviewed all transcripts line by line to identify key concepts. Codes were created and defined in a codebook with decision rules for their application and were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Results Salient themes were identified and grouped into 2 major categories: (1) processes of care within the ICU— communication, patient comfort, and a sense that the medical team was “doing everything” (ie, providing exhaustive medical care) and (2) patient and surrogate outcomes after the ICU—survival, quality of life, physical function, and cognitive function. Several outcomes were deemed worse than death: severe cognitive/physical disability, dependence on medical machinery/equipment, and severe/constant pain. Conclusion Although survival was important, most participants qualified this preference. Simple measures of mortality rates may not represent patient- or family-centered outcomes in evaluations of ICU-based interventions, and new measures that incorporate functional outcomes and patients’ and family members’ views of life quality are necessary to promote patient-centered, evidence-based care.

Family Alliance Stability and Change From Pregnancy to Toddlerhood and Marital Correlates

2006 ◽  
Vol 65 (4) ◽  
pp. 213-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Favez ◽  
France Frascarolo ◽  
Elisabeth Fivaz-Depeursinge
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Marital Satisfaction ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Family Interactions ◽  
Stability And Change ◽  
The Family ◽  
Virtual Interaction

This paper presents a longitudinal study of the development of family interactions from pregnancy to toddlerhood, and their link to parents’ marital satisfaction. The participants consisted of 38 non referred primiparous families. We used an observational setting, the Lausanne Trilogue Play (LTP), to evaluate the family alliance, namely the interactive coordination between family members. Families played a virtual interaction with a doll at the 5th month of pregnancy, and then played with the child at 3, 9 and 18 months. Results show that for 30 families, the quality of family interactions is the same at every point of measurement whereas for 8 families, there is a significant decrease of quality of interactions from pregnancy to 18 months. Those families are paradoxically the ones with the highest self-reported marital satisfaction. Implications of the results are discussed.

scholarly journals A Qualitative Study of Practitioners’ Views on Family Involvement in Treatment Process of Adolescent Internet Addiction

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 86
Author(s):  
Camilla Kin Ming Lo ◽  
Lu Yu ◽  
Yuet Wing Cho ◽  
Ko Ling Chan
Keyword(s):  
Family Involvement ◽  
Internet Addiction ◽  
Treatment Process ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Family Interactions ◽  
Family Participation ◽  
Individual Counseling ◽  
Therapeutic Alliances ◽  
Conjoint Therapy ◽  
Individualized Services

Despite emerging evidence of the effectiveness of a family-focused approach as an Internet addiction (IA) treatment modality for adolescents, little research has been done to explore family involvement in the treatment process from the clinician’s perspective. This study employed a qualitative design to examine practitioners’ views pertaining to the roles and challenges of family participation in IA intervention. In total, 10 practitioners working with adolescents with IA were interviewed. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the transcribed interviews. Three overreaching themes were synthesized: That family involvement in IA intervention is challenging yet important; shifting the focus from the adolescent to the relationship; and provision of individualized services and intervention to address the heterogeneous nature of cases. The findings show that family participation in IA treatment is successful in enhancing positive outcomes. The needs of adolescents with IA and family members are addressed through individual counseling and psychoeducation, respectively. Conjoint therapy sessions foster effective communication, improve family interactions and functioning, and restore relationships. However, caution regarding family dynamics is required when considering whether family involvement is appropriate. Practitioners need to establish therapeutic alliances and be flexible when working with family members in terms of the degree and arrangement of participation.

scholarly journals Negotiations within the family over the supply of parental care

2006 ◽  
Vol 274 (1606) ◽  
pp. 53-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camilla A Hinde ◽  
Rebecca M Kilner
Keyword(s):  
Brood Size ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Parus Major ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
Quality Of Information ◽  
The Family ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Level Of Effort ◽  
Provisioning Behaviour

Adults provisioning dependent young are in conflict with their partners, who would prefer a greater level of effort, and with their offspring, who would prefer a greater supply of food. To what extent, then should adults negotiate their provisioning behaviour with other family members? We used experimental manipulations of brood size, and targeted playback of begging calls to determine the extent to which adult great tits Parus major adjust their provisioning rates in response to the behaviour of their partner and their brood. We found that males and females behaved similarly, both responding more to each other's behaviour than to chick calling. We also found that the degree to which adults negotiated their provisioning rates with each other varied between years. A review of the literature suggests that the extent of negotiation over provisioning is likely to vary not only between species of diverse taxa, but also between and within (this study) populations of the same species. We suggest that provisioning behaviour lies on a ‘negotiation continuum’, which describes the extent to which parents respond to the actions of other family members. We argue that an individual's location on the ‘negotiation continuum’ is determined partly by the extent to which it can physically respond to the behaviour shown by other members of the family and partly by the quality of information on offer.

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