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Direct investment by stepfathers can mitigate effects on educational outcomes but does not improve behavioural difficulties.

ABSTRACT: In contemporary developed populations, stepfather presence has been associated with detrimental effects on child development. However, the proximate mechanisms behind such effects are yet to be fully explored. From a behavioural ecological perspective, the negative effects associated with stepfathers may be due to the reduced quantity and quality of investments children receive within stepfather households. Here, we build on previous studies by investigating whether the effects of stepfather presence on child outcomes are driven by differences in maternal and partner (i.e., father or stepfather) direct investments. We use data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children to explore stepfather effects on children's educational achievement and behavioural difficulties at age 7. Our results indicate that, for educational achievement, stepfather effects are due to the lower levels of direct investments children receive. For behavioural difficulty, stepfather effects are due to multiple factors whereby stepfather presence is associated with greater difficulties independent of investment levels, and direct investments from stepfathers are ineffective. Our results suggest that the negative effects of stepfathers on child outcomes can be explained, in part, by the reduced quantity and the ineffectiveness of direct investments children receive from stepfathers. Furthermore, the effects of stepfather direct investments seem to vary between child outcomes.

SUBMITTER: Emmott EH

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4157324 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Understanding how ecological interactions mitigate the impacts of perturbations such as pesticides in biological communities is an important basic and applied question for ecologists. In aquatic ecosystems, new evidence from microcosm experiments suggests that submerged macrophytes can buffer cladocerans from pulse exposures to the widely used insecticide malathion, and that mitigation increases with macrophyte density. However, whether these results scale up to more complex aquatic communities where ecological interactions such as competition can alter toxicity is unknown. Further, macrophyte abilities to mitigate different insecticide exposure scenarios (i.e. single versus repeated pulses) have never been tested. To address these gaps, we performed a factorial mesocosm experiment examining the influence of four macrophyte treatments (0, 10, 50, or 100 Elodea Canadensis shoots planted per mesocosm) crossed with three malathion exposure scenarios (no insecticide, single pulse, repeated pulses) on aquatic communities containing zooplankton, phytoplankton, periphyton, two snail species, and larval amphibians. In the absence of macrophytes, single malathion pulses caused short-term declines in cladoceran abundance followed by their rapid recovery, which precluded any indirect effects (i.e. trophic cascades). However, repeated malathion pulses caused cladoceran extinctions, resulting in persistent phytoplankton blooms and reduced abundance of one snail species. In contrast, with macrophytes present, even at low density, malathion had no effect on any taxa. We also discovered novel effects of macrophytes on the benthic food web. In the two highest macrophyte treatments, we observed trends of reduced periphyton biomass, decreased abundance of one snail species, and decreased amphibian time to and mass at metamorphosis. To our knowledge, this is the first evidence of negative submerged macrophyte effects on amphibians, a taxa of global conservation concern. Our findings suggest that facilitating macrophytes could be an important strategy for buffering freshwater communities from insecticides, though consideration of their impacts on animal species is necessary.

Project description:BackgroundMild hearing and visual difficulties are common in childhood, and both may have implications for educational achievement. However, the impact of co-occurring common hearing and visual difficulties in childhood is not known.ObjectiveTo determine the prevalence and impact of co-occurring common hearing and visual difficulties of childhood on educational outcomes in primary and secondary school.MethodsThe sample was drawn from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, a longitudinal birth cohort study in England. The exposures were hearing and visual difficulties at age 7 (defined as conductive hearing loss or otitis media with effusion, and amblyopia, strabismus or reduced visual acuity, respectively). The outcomes measured were achievement of level 4 or above at Key Stage 2 (KS2) in English, Maths and Science, respectively, at age 11, and attainment of five or more General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSEs) at grades A*-C at age 16. Multiple logistic regression models assessed the relationship between hearing and visual difficulties and educational outcomes, adjusting for potential confounding factors.Results2909 children were included in the study; 261 had hearing difficulties, 189 had visual difficulties and 14 children had co-occurring hearing and visual difficulties. Children with co-occurring hearing and visual difficulties were less likely to achieve the national target at KS2 compared with children with normal hearing and vision, even after adjustment for confounding factors (OR 0.30, CI 0.15 to 0.61 for KS2 English). Differences in IQ, behaviour, attention and social cognition did not account for this relationship. The impact of co-occurring hearing and visual difficulties on GCSE results was explained largely by poor performance at KS2.ConclusionsCo-occurring hearing and visual difficulties in childhood have an enduring negative impact on educational outcomes. Identification of affected children and early intervention in primary school is essential.

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Direct investment by stepfathers can mitigate effects on educational outcomes but does not improve behavioural difficulties.

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