Absent Dads

[Bob Jenkins]

I don't usually post here and I certainly do not like to provide refutations to some of my opinions - but I thought that this was pertainment. It is after all something from science and deserves my "second look". I would appreciate your comments.

From Science News, July 19, 2003

Absent dads linked to early sex by daughters

Teenage girls in the United States and New Zealand show a particularly strong tendency to engage in sexual activity and to get pregnant if they grew up in families without a father present, a new long-term study finds.

"These findings may support social policies that encourage fathers to form and remain in families with their children, unless the marriage is highly [conflicted] or violent;' conclude psychologist Bruce J. Ellis of the University of Canterbury in New Zealand and his coworkers in the May/June Child Development.
Prior studies have shown early sexual activity and teenage pregnancy among girls who grow up from infancy without a father. However, scientists have generally assumed that precocious sexuality results from a mix of adverse influences, including a father's absence, divorce, poverty, and the lack of parental guidance.

For their new analysis, the investigators studied 242 girls living in one of three US cities and 520 girls living in Christchurch, New Zealand. Participants were interviewed annually from age 5 to 18, and their mothers were interviewed each year.

Among the US girls, a father's absence was associated with his' daughter's sexual activity before age 16 and teenage pregnancy regardless of other adversities, Ellis' group reports. In New Zealand, additional problems showed a modest correlation with the girls' sexual activity.

In both countries, rates of teenage pregnancy were highest among girls who had lived in single-parent homes the longest. The teen pregnancy rate was nearly 8 times as high among girls who were no more than 5 years old when their fathers departed as among girls in two-parent families. The pregnancy rate among girls who were between 6 and 13 years old when their fathers left was about 3 times that of two parent teens.

In the United States, absent fathers were associated only with girls' early sexual activity and teenage pregnancy and not with other behavioral, emotional, or academic problems, the researchers say. In New Zealand, girls who grew up without fathers also exhibited relatively high rates of delinquency and school troubles.

"It's surprising to find such a specific relationship between absent fathers and girls' later sexual behavior;' comments psychologist Sara R. Jaffee of the Institute of Psychiatry in London. A father's presence doesn't always serve children well, she says. In the Jan./Feb. Child Development, a team led by Jaffee reported that, at age 5, boys and girls in two-parent families with impulsive, irritable, and often violent fathers exhibit more behavioral problems than do children living only with their mothers. That study took place in England and Wales.
'
Ellis is examining two possible causes of his provocative correlation. Girls who see their single mothers date many partners may become primed for early sexual exploration. Or, a father's absence early in life may trigger doubts in girls about male reliability that hastens sexual activity and reproduction, as well as promote a preference for brief relationships.

BTW - try a little orange marmalade and steak sauce in your meatloaf for an exotic, pleasing flavor.

Substiute lime for lemon in your recipes,

Use more clove and ginger

[David O]

This notion is correct.
Talk to bar girls. Ask them about their Dads. They were mostly either gone or distant. Mom usually ran the family. I know because I used to pick them up.
See the last verse of the Old Testament.

[Esther]

Absent dads linked to early sex by daughters

That's not new.

However, scientists have generally assumed that precocious sexuality results from a mix of adverse influences, including a father's absence, divorce, poverty, and the lack of parental guidance.

And I have generally assumed that the father's absence plays a role in all of those "adverse influences".

In the United States, absent fathers were associated only with girls' early sexual activity and teenage pregnancy and not with other behavioral, emotional, or academic problems, the researchers say. (emphasis mine)

I disagree with that. It's not nothing to live without one of one's parents during the growing up years. It's traumatic for adults who are living on their own when their parents split up. This is hardly objective, but I have a couple of friends of divorced parents who struggle with this as adults, one much worse than the other. She has always struggled with feelings of abandonment and failure, as though she wasn't good enough to keep her Dad around, or any guy now. She is engaged to be married and at the same time is waiting for the proverbial other shoe to drop.

"It's surprising to find such a specific relationship between absent fathers and girls' later sexual behavior;' comments psychologist Sara R. Jaffee of the Institute of Psychiatry in London. A father's presence doesn't always serve children well, she says. In the Jan./Feb. Child Development, a team led by Jaffee reported that, at age 5, boys and girls in two-parent families with impulsive, irritable, and often violent fathers exhibit more behavioral problems than do children living only with their mothers.'

It shouldn't be surprising at all.

All parents - fathers and mothers - are flawed human beings. It's amazing anyone grows up functional. Something in this paragraph rubs me the wrong way, as if fathers are optional. Children need to be protected from violence, don't get me wrong, but for pete's sake, if we're going to make changes to prevent behavioral problems, let's try something less dramatic like cutting back on sugar! Plenty of mothers are impulsive and irritable. It's not only the dads. Ask my kids! ;)

Girls who see their single mothers date many partners may become primed for early sexual exploration.

That sounds reasonable.

Or, a father's absence early in life may trigger doubts in girls about male reliability that hastens sexual activity and reproduction, as well as promote a preference for brief relationships.

What woman who grew up without a father in the home has "a preference for brief relationships"? If anything, because most women seem to prefer stability, I would think it's just the opposite.

Those are my comments, for whatever their worth. Thanks for sharing that article! :)

Sincerely,

Esther

[Gosh, Bob. Rereading this post it looks like I've got a major attitude. Really, I don't. Between that and the lack of clarity, I should really not post when I'm tired!]

[Bob Jenkins]

Thank you both!

[Bruce7]

And also not in a Christian Family with a Mother and Father. It is important to have your children in a healthy well-balanced Church at an early age. Pray in front of them. Read the Bible with them. Have a safe home enviroment that they can always go to and not be judged, be who they are. I don't usually post here and I certainly do not like to provide refutations to some of my opinions - but I thought that this was pertainment. It is after all something from science and deserves my "second look". I would appreciate your comments.

From Science News, July 19, 2003

Absent dads linked to early sex by daughters

Teenage girls in the United States and New Zealand show a particularly strong tendency to engage in sexual activity and to get pregnant if they grew up in families without a father present, a new long-term study finds.

"These findings may support social policies that encourage fathers to form and remain in families with their children, unless the marriage is highly [conflicted] or violent;' conclude psychologist Bruce J. Ellis of the University of Canterbury in New Zealand and his coworkers in the May/June Child Development.
Prior studies have shown early sexual activity and teenage pregnancy among girls who grow up from infancy without a father. However, scientists have generally assumed that precocious sexuality results from a mix of adverse influences, including a father's absence, divorce, poverty, and the lack of parental guidance.

For their new analysis, the investigators studied 242 girls living in one of three US cities and 520 girls living in Christchurch, New Zealand. Participants were interviewed annually from age 5 to 18, and their mothers were interviewed each year.

Among the US girls, a father's absence was associated with his' daughter's sexual activity before age 16 and teenage pregnancy regardless of other adversities, Ellis' group reports. In New Zealand, additional problems showed a modest correlation with the girls' sexual activity.

In both countries, rates of teenage pregnancy were highest among girls who had lived in single-parent homes the longest. The teen pregnancy rate was nearly 8 times as high among girls who were no more than 5 years old when their fathers departed as among girls in two-parent families. The pregnancy rate among girls who were between 6 and 13 years old when their fathers left was about 3 times that of two parent teens.

In the United States, absent fathers were associated only with girls' early sexual activity and teenage pregnancy and not with other behavioral, emotional, or academic problems, the researchers say. In New Zealand, girls who grew up without fathers also exhibited relatively high rates of delinquency and school troubles.

"It's surprising to find such a specific relationship between absent fathers and girls' later sexual behavior;' comments psychologist Sara R. Jaffee of the Institute of Psychiatry in London. A father's presence doesn't always serve children well, she says. In the Jan./Feb. Child Development, a team led by Jaffee reported that, at age 5, boys and girls in two-parent families with impulsive, irritable, and often violent fathers exhibit more behavioral problems than do children living only with their mothers. That study took place in England and Wales.
'
Ellis is examining two possible causes of his provocative correlation. Girls who see their single mothers date many partners may become primed for early sexual exploration. Or, a father's absence early in life may trigger doubts in girls about male reliability that hastens sexual activity and reproduction, as well as promote a preference for brief relationships.

BTW - try a little orange marmalade and steak sauce in your meatloaf for an exotic, pleasing flavor.

Substiute lime for lemon in your recipes,

Use more clove and ginger

[Cello]

Agreed, this is not 'new' data.....howver, I'd also say that part of the psychology of it is looking for that 'lost love'. Trying to gain that love they didn't experience.

Related to this, is what I believe is 'a' valid theory for what many (not all) men and women do:

women give sex to get 'love'

men give 'love' to get sex.

Again, not ALL...but this IS what is going on by and large with men and women (teens and adults) in our casual dating culture. Women offer sex to get 'love' which is seen through their faulty definition of attention, converstation, etc. Men on the other hand give 'love' (attention, conversation, etc) to get sex.

Again - this is not talking about healthy relationships, etc. it is answering part of the question of failed and messed up relationships and the game playing and role playing that goes on out there.

IMO.

[Steadfastlove]

Agreed, this is not 'new' data.....howver, I'd also say that part of the psychology of it is looking for that 'lost love'. Trying to gain that love they didn't experience.

Related to this, is what I believe is 'a' valid theory for what many (not all) men and women do:

women give sex to get 'love'

men give 'love' to get sex.

Again, not ALL...but this IS what is going on by and large with men and women (teens and adults) in our casual dating culture. Women offer sex to get 'love' which is seen through their faulty definition of attention, converstation, etc. Men on the other hand give 'love' (attention, conversation, etc) to get sex.

Again - this is not talking about healthy relationships, etc. it is answering part of the question of failed and messed up relationships and the game playing and role playing that goes on out there.

IMO.yup I was thinking along these lines too. THe father/daughter bond is most often a close one, and gives a sense of security to girls if it works well.

So where the father, for whatever reason, is not around, there is a vital relationship missing in the development of the girl as she grows up, affecting her emotionally, and mentally possibly, maybe leading to bad relationship choices.

Also, just from the Christian point of view, it is good for girls to grow up in a family where Christ is the head of the man, and man is the head of the woman,and which follows the injunction to the man to love their wives as themselves.i.e. isn't just taking a unbalanced legalistic approach. Consequently, the girl should have a good role model to base her choice of husband on.
:smile:

[Cello]

yup I was thinking along these lines too. THe father/daughter bond is most often a close one, and gives a sense of security to girls if it works well.

So where the father, for whatever reason, is not around, there is a vital relationship missing in the development of the girl as she grows up, affecting her emotionally, and mentally possibly, maybe leading to bad relationship choices.

Also, just from the Christian point of view, it is good for girls to grow up in a family where Christ is the head of the man, and man is the head of the woman,and which follows the injunction to the man to love their wives as themselves.i.e. isn't just taking a unbalanced legalistic approach. Consequently, the girl should have a good role model to base her choice of husband on.
:smile:

Much agreed.

I wonder if the church is missing an area of involvement here. Taking care of the widows and fatherless.....? I don't see that in exactly the same way as some do (with total subsidization) but I do think there is a gap that the body should be filling.