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Gettler LT, Rosenbaum S, Bechayda SA, McDade TW, Kuzawa CW. Men's physical health and life history transitions in the Philippines: Evidence for 'marital selection' but not protective effects of partnering and fatherhood. Soc Sci Med 2024; 346:116732. [PMID: 38452489 DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.116732] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2024] [Revised: 02/14/2024] [Accepted: 02/26/2024] [Indexed: 03/09/2024]
Abstract
In Euro-American societies, married people typically have lower overall risks for total mortality and for certain chronic conditions compared to non-married people. However, people becoming partnered and parents also tend to gain weight in Euro-American settings. Few studies have tested whether links between physical health and life history status translate to other cultural contexts where the socio-ecological dynamics of family life may differ. This limits the application of these insights to men's well-being in global public health. To help address this gap, we drew on a large, long-running birth cohort study of Filipino men, using data collected at three waves between 2005 and 2014 when men were 21.5-30.5 years old (N = 607, obs. = 1760). We tested for the effects of the transition to partnering (marriage/cohabitation) and fatherhood on men's physical health (waist circumference, fat-free mass index, and grip strength). Men becoming partnered or partnered fathers (P/PF) had comparable longitudinal physical health trajectories to men remaining single non-fathers. However, men who became P/PF by their mid 20s had higher fat-free mass index values than single non-fathers at each wave, with the largest effect observed when all men were single non-fathers at baseline. Men who became P/PF by their early 30s were also stronger than the reference group at baseline. Thus, men who were more muscular and stronger at baseline were more likely to transition to P/PF status, consistent with a 'marital selection' model. In complementary analyses, men did not exhibit adverse health effects when they became partnered fathers as young adults or parents to infants, respectively. These findings suggest that links between health and life history transitions in this setting differ from those commonly observed in Euro-American societies. While transitions to marriage and fatherhood are promising windows for interventions to improve men's health, our results highlight the importance of tailoring such approaches to local dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lee T Gettler
- Department of Anthropology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, 46556, USA; Eck Institute for Global Health, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, 46556, USA.
| | - Stacy Rosenbaum
- Department of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Sonny Agustin Bechayda
- USC Office of Population Studies Foundation, and Department of Anthropology, Sociology, and History, University of San Carlos, Metro Cebu, 6016, Philippines
| | - Thomas W McDade
- Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA; Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA
| | - Christopher W Kuzawa
- Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA; Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA
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Varghese JS, Adair LS, Patel SA, Bechayda SA, Bhargava SK, Carba DB, Horta BL, Lima NP, Martorell R, Menezes AMB, Norris SA, Richter LM, Ramirez-Zea M, Sachdev HS, Wehrmeister FC, Stein AD. Changes in asset-based wealth across the life course in birth cohorts from five low- and middle-income countries. SSM Popul Health 2021; 16:100976. [PMID: 34901377 PMCID: PMC8637637 DOI: 10.1016/j.ssmph.2021.100976] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2021] [Revised: 11/16/2021] [Accepted: 11/18/2021] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Temporally-harmonized asset-based measures of wealth can be used to study the association of life-course wealth exposures in the same scale with health outcomes in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The within-individual longitudinal stability of asset-based indices of wealth in LMICs is poorly understood. Methods Using data from five birth cohorts from three continents, we developed temporally-harmonized asset indices over the life course through polychoric principal component analysis of a common set of assets collected consistently over time (18 years in Brazil to 50 years in Guatemala). For each cohort, we compared the harmonized index to cross-sectional indices created using more comprehensive asset measures using rank correlations. We evaluated the rank correlation of the harmonized index in early life and adulthood with maternal schooling and own attained schooling, respectively. Results Temporally-harmonized asset indices developed from a consistently-collected set of assets (range: 10 in South Africa to 30 in Philippines) suggested that mean wealth improved over time for all birth cohorts. Cross-sectional indices created separately for each study wave were correlated with the harmonized index for all cohorts (Brazil: r = 0.78 to 0.96; Guatemala: r = 0.81 to 0.95; India: 0.75 to 0.93; Philippines: r = 0.92 to 0.99; South Africa: r = 0.84 to 0.96). Maternal schooling (r = 0.15 to 0.56) and attained schooling (r = 0.23 to 0.53) were positively correlated with the harmonized asset index in childhood and adulthood respectively. Conclusions Temporally-harmonized asset indices displayed coherence with cross-sectional indices as well as construct validity with schooling. Temporally-harmonized asset indices are useful to assess relative importance of wealth at different life stages with health on the same scale. Harmonized indices using a subset of assets were correlated with cross-sectional asset indices using all available assets in five LMIC birth cohorts. Harmonized indices displayed construct validity, as demonstrated by its correlation with schooling. Harmonized indices were robust to alternate specifications such as shorter lists of assets, study years, and factor extraction procedures.
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Key Words
- CLHNS, Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey
- COHORTS, Consortium On Health Orientated Research in Transitioning Societies
- EFA, Exploratory Factor Analysis
- INCAP, Institute of Nutrition for Central America and Panama
- LMIC, Low- and middle-income countries
- Life course epidemiology
- MCA, Multiple Correspondence Analysis
- NDBC, New Delhi Birth Cohort
- PCA, Principal Component Analysis
- SD, standard deviation
- SEP, Socio-economic position
- Social mobility
- Wealth index
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Affiliation(s)
- Jithin Sam Varghese
- Nutrition and Health Sciences Program, Laney Graduate School, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Linda S Adair
- Department of Nutrition, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Shivani A Patel
- Hubert Department of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Sonny Agustin Bechayda
- USC-Office of Population Studies Foundation, Inc, University of San Carlos, Cebu City, Philippines.,Department of Anthropology, Sociology, and History, University of San Carlos, Cebu City, Philippines
| | | | - Delia B Carba
- USC-Office of Population Studies Foundation, Inc, University of San Carlos, Cebu City, Philippines
| | - Bernardo L Horta
- Postgraduate Program in Epidemiology, Federal University of Pelotas, Pelotas, Brazil
| | - Natalia P Lima
- Postgraduate Program in Health and Behavior, Catholic University of Pelotas, Pelotas, Brazil
| | - Reynaldo Martorell
- Nutrition and Health Sciences Program, Laney Graduate School, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.,Hubert Department of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Ana M B Menezes
- Postgraduate Program in Epidemiology, Federal University of Pelotas, Pelotas, Brazil
| | - Shane A Norris
- SAMRC Developmental Pathways for Health Research Unit, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Linda M Richter
- DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Human Development, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Manuel Ramirez-Zea
- INCAP Research Center for the Prevention of Chronic Diseases (CIIPEC), Institute of Nutrition of Central America and Panama (INCAP), Guatemala City, Guatemala
| | | | | | - Aryeh D Stein
- Nutrition and Health Sciences Program, Laney Graduate School, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.,Hubert Department of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
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Gettler LT, Kuo PX, Bechayda SA. Fatherhood and psychobiology in the Philippines: Perspectives on joint profiles and longitudinal changes of fathers' estradiol and testosterone. Am J Hum Biol 2018; 30:e23150. [PMID: 30251281 DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.23150] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2017] [Revised: 04/19/2018] [Accepted: 05/29/2018] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Research on the psychobiology of partnering and fathering has focused on testosterone (T), oxytocin, and prolactin (PRL) as mechanisms that potentially mediate life history trade-offs related to those roles. Less is known about other hormones that might be responsive to life history transitions and implicated in fathering, such as estradiol (E2). We examined how E2 changed during the transition to marriage and fatherhood, its correlation with fathers' caregiving, and its joint within-individual production with other hormones (T, PRL). METHODS Data were collected from a total of 913 Filipino men (aged 25.9 years ± 0.3 SD at follow-up) enrolled in a longitudinal cohort study. Morning saliva samples collected at baseline (2005) and follow-up (2009) were assayed for T and E2 (n = 329), dried blood spots from baseline were assayed for PRL. Fathers reported on caregiving in 2009. RESULTS When compared with men who remained single non-fathers over the study period, men who became married residential fathers experienced larger declines in E2. This effect was non-significant when we controlled for longitudinal changes in T. E2 was not significantly related to fathers' caregiving, controlling for T. In cross-sectional analyses for PRL, T, and E2, married residential fathers exhibited within-individual profiles of reduced T and elevated PRL, whereas single non-fathers exhibited the opposite profile of elevated T and reduced PRL. CONCLUSIONS Our findings point to the need for future research to consider the mutually regulatory dynamics and/or combinatorial implications of multiple physiological axes acting within individuals to underpin life history trade-offs and behavioral strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lee T Gettler
- Department of Anthropology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana.,The Eck Institute of Global Health, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana.,William J. Shaw Center for Children and Families, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana.,The Eck Institute of Global Health, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana
| | - Patty X Kuo
- Department of Anthropology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana.,William J. Shaw Center for Children and Families, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana
| | - Sonny Agustin Bechayda
- USC Office of Population Studies Foundation, and Department of Anthropology, Sociology, and History, University of San Carlos, Cebu City, Philippines
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Sarma MS, Kuo PX, Bechayda SA, Kuzawa CW, Gettler LT. Exploring the links between early life and young adulthood social experiences and men's later life psychobiology as fathers. Physiol Behav 2018; 193:82-89. [DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2017.11.029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2017] [Revised: 11/27/2017] [Accepted: 11/28/2017] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
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Thayer ZM, Agustin Bechayda S, Kuzawa CW. Circadian cortisol dynamics across reproductive stages and in relation to breastfeeding in the Philippines. Am J Hum Biol 2018; 30:e23115. [DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.23115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2017] [Revised: 01/29/2018] [Accepted: 02/10/2018] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Zaneta M. Thayer
- Department of Anthropology; Dartmouth College; Hanover New Hampshire
| | - Sonny Agustin Bechayda
- USC-Office of Population Studies; University of San Carlos; Cebu City Philippines
- Department of Anthropology, Sociology and History; University of San Carlos; Cebu City Philippines
| | - Christopher W. Kuzawa
- Department of Anthropology; Northwestern University; Evanston Illinois
- Institute for Policy Research; Northwestern University; Evanston Illinois
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Gettler LT, Ryan CP, Eisenberg DTA, Rzhetskaya M, Hayes MG, Feranil AB, Bechayda SA, Kuzawa CW. The role of testosterone in coordinating male life history strategies: The moderating effects of the androgen receptor CAG repeat polymorphism. Horm Behav 2017; 87:164-175. [PMID: 27794482 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2016.10.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2016] [Revised: 10/20/2016] [Accepted: 10/23/2016] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
Partnered fathers often have lower testosterone than single non-parents, which is theorized to relate to elevated testosterone (T) facilitating competitive behaviors and lower T contributing to nurturing. Cultural- and individual-factors moderate the expression of such psychobiological profiles. Less is known about genetic variation's role in individual psychobiological responses to partnering and fathering, particularly as related to T. We examined the exon 1 CAG (polyglutamine) repeat (CAGn) within the androgen receptor (AR) gene. AR CAGn shapes T's effects after it binds to AR by affecting AR transcriptional activity. Thus, this polymorphism is a strong candidate to influence individual-level profiles of "androgenicity." While males with a highly androgenic profile are expected to engage in a more competitive-oriented life history strategy, low androgenic men are at increased risk of depression, which could lead to similar outcomes for certain familial dynamics, such as marriage stability and parenting. Here, in a large longitudinal study of Filipino men (n=683), we found that men who had high androgenicity (elevated T and shorter CAGn) or low androgenicity (lower T and longer CAGn) showed elevated likelihood of relationship instability over the 4.5-year study period and were also more likely be relatively uninvolved with childcare as fathers. We did not find that CAGn moderated men's T responses to the fatherhood transition. In total, our results provide evidence for invested fathering and relationship stability at intermediate levels of androgenicity and help inform our understanding of variation in male reproductive strategies and the individual hormonal and genetic differences that underlie it.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lee T Gettler
- Department of Anthropology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, United States; The Eck Institute for Global Health, University of Notre Dame, United States.
| | - Calen P Ryan
- Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, United States
| | - Dan T A Eisenberg
- Department of Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle, United States; Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology, University of Washington, Seattle, United States
| | - Margarita Rzhetskaya
- Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Molecular Medicine, Department of Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
| | - M Geoffrey Hayes
- Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, United States; Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Molecular Medicine, Department of Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611, United States; Center for Genetic Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
| | - Alan B Feranil
- USC Office of Population Studies Foundation and Department of Anthropology, Sociology, and History, College of Arts and Sciences, University of San Carlos, Talamban Cebu City, Philippines
| | - Sonny Agustin Bechayda
- USC Office of Population Studies Foundation and Department of Anthropology, Sociology, and History, College of Arts and Sciences, University of San Carlos, Talamban Cebu City, Philippines
| | - Christopher W Kuzawa
- Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, United States; Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, United States
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