Retrospective survey of parental marital relations and child reproductive development

Belsky, Steinberg, and Draper (1991) predicted that early childhood stress or conflict in the family environment would be associated with childhood behavioural symptoms, early puberty, and early, less discriminate reproductive behaviour. A cross-sectional self-report survey of childhood family life and adolescent development was carried out with 357 university students aged 18 to 24 from Toronto, Canada. In women, earlier menarche was associated with more parental marital conflict in early childhood (birth to age 7), more parental marital unhappiness throughout childhood (birth to age 11), more independence from mother or father in late childhood (age 8 to 11), less anxiousness or internalising symptoms (anxiousness/depression) in late childhood (age 8 to 11), earlier age at dating men, and more boyfriends. In men, earlier spermarche was associated with father absence (birth to before spermarche), more stress in quality of family life, parental marital unhappiness, and parental marital conflict in early childhood (birth to age 7), more independence from mother or father in late childhood (age 8 to 11), earlier age at dating women, more girlfriends, and earlier age at sexual intercourse. These findings are generally consistent with the Belsky et al. (1991) view that childhood psychosocial stresses affect puberty and reproductive life history, though they do not preclude alternative accounts.