Parental Investment Research Articles

Ayurvedic approach to Embryogenesis: Exploring Fetal Development

Background: Embryology in Ayurveda is the study of embryonic and fetal development using Ayurvedic principles. Ayurveda describes the conception process, fetal development, and the effect of Doshas (biological energies) on the fetus's growth and health. Ayurvedic embryology emphasizes the mother's health and well-being during pregnancy, as well as the effect of the father's Doshas on the child's genetic makeup. It also includes prenatal care guidelines, such as diet, lifestyle, and herbal remedies, to help the fetus develop normally. Aims: This review applies Ayurvedic concepts of Grabhasharir to embryology, analyzing the genesis of progeny using modern scientific knowledge. Materials and Methods: Brihattrayee along with other relevant literature were reviewed to identify the hidden core of embryology described in chapters about Garbhasharir. Results: The Ayurvedic essence outlines two types of processes in progeny genesis: dependent and independent, with dependent processes modifying and independent processes unaffected by parental efforts. Conclusion: Even though the embryology concepts outlined in Ayurveda extend back millennia, they are still relevant in today's scientific world when properly interpreted.

Evolution of parental care in haploid-diploid plants.

In bryophytes that alternate between haploid gametophytes and diploid sporophytes through sexual reproduction, sporophytes are often attached to and nurtured on the female gametophyte. A similar phenomenon is seen in Florideophyceae (a group of red algae). These systems in which a gametophyte (mother) invests nutrients in sporophytes (offspring) are ideal for studying the evolution of 'parental care' in non-animal organisms. Here, we propose a model of a haploid-diploid life cycle and examine the evolution of maternal investment in sporophytes focusing on two effects: the degree of paternal or maternal control of investment and the number of sporophytes. We find that when the female dominantly controls the investment, the evolutionarily stable level of investment is that which maximizes the expected reproductive success of the female gametophyte. The genomic conflict between maternal and paternal alleles complicates the evolutionary outcome; however, a greater male allelic effect and a higher number of sporophytes favour a higher energy investment, which may lead to evolutionary branching or run-away escalation of the investment level. This suggests that the selfishness of the paternal gene is the evolutionary driver of parental care and that complex structures such as fusion cells in red algae may have evolved to suppress it.

Parental perceptions of economic inequality and investment in education in China

Using data from the 2012–2018 waves of the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), we investigate how parenting practices vary by parents’ perception of inequality in contemporary China. We ask three questions: (1) Whether and how do parents’ perceptions of inequality differ by their socioeconomic background? (2) Are parenting practices related to parents’ perception of inequality? (3) Whether and how the relationship between parenting practices and perception of inequality varies across parents of different socioeconomic status (SES)? The results show that the higher the SES of parents, the more pessimistic is their perception of inequality. In addition, parents who are more aware of income inequality tend to spend more money on children’s education, have higher expectations for their children’s academic performance and educational achievement, and are more engaged in intensive parenting behaviors than parents who perceive income inequality to be less severe. Mothers’ perceptions of inequality are more strongly associated with investment in children’s education than those of fathers. In addition, the relationship between perceived inequality and parental investment in out-of-school education only varies by family SES among mothers.

Semen promotes oocyte development in Sebastes schlegelii elucidating ovarian development dynamics in live-bearing fish

In some vertebrates and invertebrates, semen release factors affecting female physiology and behavior. Here, we report that semen delivered to females is potentially beneficial for promoting oocyte development in a viviparous teleost, Sebastes schlegelii. 88% of mated ovaries develop normally and give birth to larval fish, whereas 61% of non-mated ovaries are arrested in the previtellogenic stage. Semen's significant role (p<0.0001) in promoting oocyte development may involve remodeling follicular cells and regulating the expression of the extracellular matrix, which facilitates cell communication. Furthermore, the ovarian response to semen may influence the brain, affecting hormone release, follicular cell development and steroid production, and crucial for oocyte growth. This mechanism, which could potentially delay maternal investment in offspring until male genetic input occurs to avoid energy wastage, has not been previously described in teleosts. These findings enhance our understanding of ovarian development in viviparous fish, with broader implications for reproductive biology.

Why cash grants fail to raise household investment in child education in developing countries

AbstractThis study formulates a theoretical framework to shed light on why cash grants fail to increase parental investment in child education, and what can be done to address the issue. The paper asserts that consumption vulnerability, loss aversion, and information friction render lump‐sum cash grants ineffective. Redesigning interventions as demand‐side cost‐sharing schemes would nudge parents to buy educational materials for their children.

Preserving Heritage Language in Turkish Families in the USA

A dearth of research concerning Turkish immigrant families in the United States exists, prompting this study’s focus. This research aims to illuminate the influence of parental language attitudes among Turkish immigrants on their motivation to foster the preservation of their heritage language (HL) in their children, alongside an exploration of the strategies employed for HL retention. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 parents (16 mothers and 4 fathers), with each interview spanning 15–20 min. The interviews, conducted individually by the primary author in Turkish and later translated into English, unveiled a spectrum of parental language attitudes, impacting their motivation to uphold HL. Variances in motivation were observed, intertwined with factors such as home and community environments, parental acculturation experiences, perceptions regarding the relationship between culture and language, and the perceived advantages of bilingualism for children’s cognitive development and future prospects. Despite differing motivations, all parents expressed a desire to preserve HL, prompting the deployment of diverse Heritage Language Management Strategies (HLMS). This study significantly contributes to the understanding of how parental attitudes shape HL preservation efforts within families, offering insights crucial to the field of HL and family language policy, thereby highlighting implications for practice and further research.

Revisiting implications of early family economic conditions for adolescent adaptations: An integrative cascade model.

Implications of family economic conditions (FECs) for child development have been extensively examined. What remains sparse is research spanning multiple life stages to delineate the far-reaching influences of early FECs for child subsequent development in different domains and how various family stress and investment processes jointly account for such association. To address these gaps, using data from 929 families in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, 2001, 2005), this study examined how family income-to-needs ratio (FITNR) when children were 1-36 months old was associated with child language skills, social competence, externalizing, and internalizing problems at 6th grade. Parental investment and maternal/paternal depressive symptoms and sensitivity when children were 54 months old and in 3rd grade were tested as potential mediators. Results indicated that early FITNR shaped child cognitive, social, and behavioral adaptation in early adolescence indirectly through parental investment, depressive symptoms, and sensitive parenting in the preschool period and middle childhood. Parental investment, depressive symptoms, and sensitive parenting played such mediating roles above and beyond each other. Parental investment primarily accounted for the association between early FITNR and child later language skills, whereas parental depressive symptoms and sensitive parenting uniquely explained the associations between early FITNR and child subsequent internalizing symptoms, externalizing problems, social competence, and language skills. Theoretical/practical implications of such findings were discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The Nurture of Nature and the Nature of Nurture: How Genes and Investments Interact in the Formation of Skills

This paper studies the interplay between genetics and family investments in the process of skill formation. We model and estimate the joint evolution of skills and parental investments throughout early childhood. We document three genetic mechanisms: the direct effect of child genes on skills, the indirect effect of child genes via parental investments, and family genetic influences captured by parental genes. We show that genetic effects are dynamic, increase over time, and operate via environmental channels. Our paper highlights the value of integrating biological and social perspectives into a single unified framework. (JEL I24, I26, J12, J13, J24)

The Role of Parents in Implementing the Post-School Transition

The importance of parental involvement in every student's school life has been well-documented in various studies. However, empirical data in the field show that some parents of students with disabilities in Yogyakarta did not fully participate in it. This study aimed to describe the role of parents of students with disabilities in implementing the post-school transition. This study employed qualitative method and used interviews as data collection. The participants in this study were six parents of students with disabilities. This study also revealed that implementation of the transition program post-high school could succeed from parental efforts, namely: 1) the role of students were unique in the implementation transition post-school, 2) the parental role of the students’ need, particularly in the implementation of the transition period post-school, 3) the role of parents students’ need particular in giving training family in implementation of the transition period post school. However, there were a number of possible obstacles to influencing transition program success post-school, namely 1) concern about accompanying child post-school, 2) parents not knowing IEP, 3) parents not being involved in programming, and 4) parents empowerment as companions still less.

Mate preference dissimilarity predicts friendship attraction at zero-acquaintance for men, not women

We hypothesized that dissimilar mate preferences would augment friendship attraction in zero-acquaintance interactions whereas similar mate preferences would hinder friendship attraction. Heterosexual participants completed an online survey to assess their mate preferences. They also rated the attractiveness of opposite-sex photos. Next, they attended a 3-hr speed-friending session in which they interacted with same-sex others for 3-min each. After each interaction, they completed a 2-min assessment about the person they just met. Two sessions were held, one for women ( N = 20) and one for men ( N = 18). The social relations model was used to regress unique feelings of friendship attraction on similarity in terms of mate preferences while controlling for perceiver and target variance. Our hypothesis was supported among men: Interactions in which two people differed in mate preferences were rated more positively than those in which participants had similar mate preferences. These results are consistent with Parental Investment Theory and highlight the importance of mate preferences in friendship attraction among men.

Juvenile hormone and temperature effects in the postzygotic parental investment of male waterbug Abedus ovatus (Belostomatidae)

AbstractParental investment is any expenditure of time or energy by parents that increases their offspring survival at the cost of future reproduction. The costs associated with parental investment can be reflected in a deterioration of their physiological condition. In insects, juvenile hormone has been identified as having a role in the control of parental care. However, its effects on parental investment remain unclear for many taxa, especially in species with exclusive paternal care. We evaluated whether juvenile hormone influences postzygotic parental investment in Abedus ovatus, a waterbug with exclusive paternal care. Males provide parental care by carrying eggs on their backs and ventilating them by generating water currents through push‐ups called brood pumping. In an experiment, we applied methoprene (an analog of juvenile hormone) to males at early and late parental care stages and quantified the frequency of brood pumping and the contents of energy reserves (lipids, carbohydrates, and glycogen) at the end of parental care as a measure of physiological condition. We found that methoprene increases the frequency of brood pumping only when the water temperature increases. However, there was no correlation between the parent's energy reserves and methoprene treatments. We found that males who cared for large egg pads had lower amounts of lipids and carbohydrates at the end of parental care, and both effects are greater as the water temperature increases. These results suggest that energy expenditure during parental care is high due to intense muscular activity during brood pumping, which depletes male energy reserves and could affect future reproduction.

A comparison of perceived barriers to optimal child sleep among families with low and high income

ObjectiveFamilies with low-income experience suboptimal sleep compared to families with higher-income. Unique drivers likely contribute to these disparities, along with factors that universally impede sleep patterns, despite income level. To inform intervention tailoring, this mixed-methods study gathered parent’s perceptions about child sleep challenges to identify similarities/differences in families with lower-income and higher-income. MethodsParents who experienced difficulties with their child (ages 2-4years) sleep were categorized as lower income (n = 15; $30,000 ± 17,845/year) or higher income (n = 15; $142,400 ± 61,373/year). Parents completed a survey and semistructured interview to explore barriers and facilitators for child sleep. Two coders independently evaluated transcripts for lower-income and higher-income groups using inductive analyses. Constant-comparison methods generated themes and characterized similarities/differences by income group. ResultsGroups were similar in themes related to diverse bedtime routines, nighttime struggles with child sleep, parent strategies to reduce night wakings, parent effort to provide a sleep-promoting environment, and presence of electronic rules. Groups differed in themes related to factors influencing routine setting (eg, lower income: external factors influencing routines; higher income: personal attributes for structure), parent appraisal of child sleep (eg, higher income: ambivalence; lower income: mostly negative appraisal), nap timing and duration (eg, lower income: longer naps), and strategy utilization and pursuit of resources (eg, higher income: more parents tried various strategies and accessed online/print resources). ConclusionsParents experienced many similar barriers to child sleep, with a few distinct differences by income group. These findings can inform future intervention components for all families, as well as customized components to address the unique needs of families across income levels.

Upaya Orang Tua Dalam Meningkatkan Kemandirian Belajar Anak Usia 4-8 Tahun di Desa Tanjung Lombok Utara

This research aims to determine the role of parents in increasing the learning independence of children aged 4-8 years. This research examines the efforts of parents to familiarize their children with independent learning. This research is descriptive qualitative research with data collection techniques in the form of observation, interviews and documentation. To measure the validity of the data, researchers used triangulation techniques, member checks, and peer discussion. The results of this research show that parents' efforts to increase the learning independence of children aged 4-8 years in Tanjung Village include accompanying children when studying at home, controlling children's daily activities, being good role models, and carrying out habituation and discipline.

It's all in the stars: The Chinese zodiac and the effects of parental investments on offspring's cognitive and noncognitive skill development

AbstractParental investments in children's cognitive and noncognitive outcomes are deeply important to policymakers. However, because parental investments are arguably endogenous, estimating their importance empirically poses a challenge. To address this challenge, this paper exploits a rich and novel dataset, the China Family Panel Studies, and proposes a culture‐specific instrumental variable based on the Chinese zodiac. By comparing the outcomes of children born just before and just after the cutoff for a “lucky” (or ‘unlucky’) zodiac sign, we find that parents' investments have significant effects on offspring's development of both cognitive and noncognitive skills.

Menggambar Bebas Sebagai Upaya Mengurangi Perilaku Insecure Pada Anak Usia Dini

Basically, insecurity is related to standards set by someone in dialogue with themselves, such as family or peers. Then a feeling of unease develops when a person compares himself to others in a way that is considered negative, or not in accordance with society's order of life. Therefore, this will become a problem in early childhood development, which will have an impact on the child's life. The aim of this research is to understand a problem in early childhood and as an effort to prevent the impact of this problem, and to be able to provide appropriate food. Therefore, as parents and educators, you must know and see your child's growth and development. The focus of this research consists of (1) To understand the personality of children who behave insecurely, (2) the efforts of parents or educators in dealing with children who behave insecurely.

Parental Expenditures of Time and Money on Children in the U.S.

AbstractHow much do parents spend on children in the U.S.? While the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) regularly addresses this question, it considers only money expenditures, omitting the sizeable monetary value of parental time. The 2017 and 2019 Panel Study of Income Dynamics offers a unique opportunity to provide a more complete picture. Analysis of this data reveals considerable substitutability between unpaid and paid childcare and generates estimates of average total expenditures that include a replacement cost estimate of the value of parental time. These estimates, constructed for comparability with USDA measures, reveal both higher levels of average parental expenditure and different patterns across household structure and income. These findings challenge public policies that use USDA estimates as a reference point for setting the child support obligations of non‐custodial parents and reimbursement rates for foster care. They also undermine many conventional equivalence scales and measures of income/time poverty.

Variations of salinity during reproduction and development affect ontogenetic trajectories in a coastal amphibian.

Although coastal ecosystems are naturally submitted to temporal variations of salinity, salinization has been increasing over time threatening coastal biodiversity. Species that exploit such habitats can thus be exposed to brackish water at different life stages. However, the impacts of variations of salinity on wildlife remain poorly understood. This is particularly true for coastal amphibians, due to the strong dependency of early life stages (embryos and larvae) on aquatic environments. In order to investigate the effect of salinity during egg laying and embryonic and larval development of coastal amphibians, we used a full-factorial design to expose reproductive adults, eggs, and larvae of coastal spined toads (Bufo spinosus) to fresh (0 g.l-1) or brackish water (4 g.l-1). At egg laying, we evaluated parental investment in reproduction. During embryonic and larval development, we assessed effects on survival, development, and growth. We highlighted strong effects of environmental salinity on reproduction (reduced egg laying time, marginally reduced egg size, and reduced investment in reproduction). Responses to salinity were highly dependent on the developmental stages of exposure (stronger effects when individuals were exposed during embryonic development). These effects carried over when exposure occurred at egg laying or during embryonic development, highlighting the importance of the environmental conditions during early life on ontogenetic trajectories. We also highlighted partial compensation when individuals were transferred back to freshwater. Whether the magnitude of these responses can allow coastal biodiversity to overcome the observed detrimental effects of salinization remain to be assessed.

Digest: Mating systems, intragenomic conflict, and speciation.

Conflict over the degree of maternal investment in an offspring can exist between an offspring's maternally inherited and paternally inherited alleles. Such conflict is not expected under self-fertilization. A new study led by Rifkin and Ostevik suggests that divergence in the degree of conflict between closely related outcrossing and selfing species can lead to aberrant early development of hybrids in morning glories. This dynamic represents a potentially powerful driver of reproductive incompatibility and thus speciation.

Enrichment, empowerment, and emancipation: Chinese and Latinx immigrant parental investment in U.S. bilingual education

ABSTRACT Immigrant parents have varied yet comparable language ideologies, perspectives, and experiences. In this qualitative case study, 67 immigrant parents were interviewed, 37 Chinese and 30 Latinx, whose children were enrolled in Mandarin–English and Spanish–English bilingual after-school programs at two urban public elementary schools in the U.S. Northeast megalopolis. Critical discourse analysis of the interview transcripts revealed parents’ encompassing beliefs in bilingual education as a sociocultural investment in learning Chinese and Spanish. The study identifies three types of sociocultural investment: enrichment, empowerment, and emancipation. Enrichment is premised on the immigrant parents’ expectations of additive bilingual development in their child’s education. Empowerment is rooted in the immigrant parents’ agentic motivations to instrumentalize their child’s non-English language and provide cultural capital for immediate and transnational contexts. Emancipation emerges from immigrant parents’ experiences of liberation from subtractive bilingualism, limited educational experiences, and negative associations of ethnolinguistic identity institutionalized by the dominant (White) English-speaking society. These findings indicate that the cultures and languages transmitted through immigrant parents’ sociocultural investment in bilingualism are equally transmissible through investment in bilingual education. (176 words)

Social inequalities in early childhood language development during the COVID-19 pandemic: a descriptive study with data from three consecutive school entry surveys in Germany

BackgroundSocial health inequalities are still of great public health importance in modern societies. The COVID-19 pandemic may have affected social inequalities in people's health due to containment measures. As these measures particularly affected children, they might have been particularly vulnerable to increased social inequalities. The aim of the study was to describe health inequalities during the pandemic based on language delay (LD) in children in order to inform public health interventions for a population at risk of long-term health and education inequalities.MethodsData of 5–7 year old children from three consecutive school entry surveys in the German federal state of Brandenburg were used, including data compulsorily collected before the pandemic (2018/2019: n = 19,299), at the beginning of the pandemic (2019/2020: n = 19,916) and during the pandemic (2020/2021: n = 19,698). Bivariate and multivariate binary regression analyses [OR, 95% CI] cross-sectionally examined the relationship between the prevalence of LD [yes/no] and social inequalities, operationalized by family socioeconomic position [SEP low/middle/high], migration background [native-German language/non-native German language] and length of kindergarten attendance [< 4 years/ ≥ 4 years]. Factors contributing to inequality in LD were examined by socioeconomic stratification.ResultsCross-sectionally, LD prevalence has decreased overall (2018/2019: 21.1%, 2019/2020: 19.2%, 2020/2021: 18.8%), and among children from both high SEP and native German-speaking families. As LD prevalence increased among children from families with low SEP and remained stable among non-native German speakers, social inequalities in LD prevalence increased slightly during the pandemic i) by low SEP (2018/2019: OR = 4.41, 3.93–4.94; 2020/2021: OR = 5.12, 4.54–5.77) and ii) by non-German native language (2018/2019: OR = 2.22, 1.86–2.66; 2020/2021: OR = 2.54, 2.19–2.95). During the pandemic, both migration background and kindergarten attendance determined LD prevalence in the high and middle SEP strata. However, the measured factors did not contribute to LD prevalence in children from families with low SEP.ConclusionSocial inequalities in LD increased due to opposing trends in prevalence comparing low and high SEP families. To promote health equity across the life course, early childhood should be of interest for tailored public health actions (e.g. through targeted interventions for kindergarten groups). Further analytical studies should investigate determinants (e.g., parental investment).