Absentee Dad, Pregnant Daughter

The biological capacity to reproduce occurs in early adolescence.  But in modern society, when girls realize this capacity, the results are adverse life situations (drop-outs, child abuse, poverty, and more physical and mental health problems).  Psychologists have postulated that girls detect their parents’ reproductive strategies during the first 5 years of their lives.  They psychologically encode this information, which then shapes how early they will initiate sexual activity. 

The United States has the highest rate of teenage pregnancy among Western nations (10%), followed by New Zealand (7%).  This study includes populations in New Zealand, Tennessee, and Indiana.  Researchers set out to determine whether absence of a biological father is a factor that leads to earlier sexual activity among adolescent girls – and resulting teenage pregnancy.  The US data was collected as part of a larger “Child Development Project” which recruited families in the late 1980s when these girls were in kindergarten.  The New Zealand data was also part of a longitudinal study. Families there were recruited at birth in the late 1970s. 

Greater exposure to father’s absence was strongly associated with elevated risk for early sexual activity and teenage pregnancy.  There was a ‘dose-response’ relationship with the timing of absence.  The younger a child was when their father became absent, the higher the sexual activity and teenage pregnancy rates were later in life. 
Absentee fatherhood is known to also be associated with poverty, behavioral problems, GPA scores, and violence – and one may think that any of these could be the cause of early sexual activity.  However, early sexual activity was higher among girls with absent fathers, independent of these factors. The presence of a father was a major protective factor against early sexual outcomes, even if other risk factors for teenage sexuality were present. 

One reason postulated for this association is that young girls might be exposed to their mother’s dating behavior at an impressionable early age (5 years).  Second, the quality of paternal investment may have a direct effect on daughters’ sexuality.  Perhaps the young girls learn that parental investment is unreliable and unimportant – making them more reticent to resist sexual relationships.  H.T.