Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25299880›Full record

SynthesisEvolutionary psychology : an international journal of evolutionary approaches to psychology and behavior2014

A life history theory of father absence and menarche: a meta-analysis.

Gregory D Webster, Julia A Graber, Amanda N Gesselman, Benjamin S Crosier, Tatiana Orozco Schember

Abstract readMeta-Analysis
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Evolutionary psychology : an international journal of evolutionary approaches to psychology and behavior, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 53 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
53citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

53 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Article
  5. Recalled Adverse Childhood Experiences Predict Behavioral Traits Associated With an Accelerated Life History in Cebu, Philippines.American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council · 2026
    Article
  6. Review
  7. Concern About COVID-19 Mediates the Relationship Between Life-History Strategy and Stockpiling Food.International journal of psychology : Journal international de psychologie · 2025
    Article
  8. Article
  9. Review
  10. Article
  11. Review
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Father absence and pubertal timing in Korean boys and girls.Evolution, medicine, and public health · 2023
    Article
  15. Review
  16. Article
  17. Review
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Phenotypic Signals of Sexual Selection and Fast Life History Dynamics for the Long-Term but Not Short-Term Mating.Evolutionary psychology : an international journal of evolutionary approaches to psychology and behavior · 2021
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Gregory D WebsterDepartment of Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
Julia A GraberDepartment of Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
Amanda N GesselmanDepartment of Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
Benjamin S CrosierDepartment of Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
Tatiana Orozco SchemberDepartment of Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Is the absence of biological fathers related to their daughters' earlier age at menarche? Drawing on evolutionary psychology and life history theory, prior research has suggested such a relationship (Belsky, Steinberg, and Draper, 1991; Draper and Harpending, 1982; Ellis, 2004). Although qualitative reviews have shown narrative support for this relationship (Allison and Hyde, 2013; Ellis, 2004; Kim, Smith, and Palermiti, 1997; Susman and Dorn, 2009), no quantitative review exists to provide empirical support for this relationship or to explain mixed results. Thus, we conducted a random-effects meta-analysis of correlations (Card, 2012) on father absence and daughter menarcheal age (k=33; N=70,403). The weighted mean correlation was .14, 95% CI [.09, .19], suggesting that father absence was significantly related to earlier menarche; effect sizes were heterogeneous. Egger's regression (Egger, Smith, Schneider, and Minder, 1997) showed no evidence of publication bias (file-drawer effect; r=.34, p=.052). Outcome measure differences (menarcheal age vs. menarcheal age embedded in a multi-item pubertal timing scale) did not moderate effect sizes. Study year effects (Schooler, 2011) were also non-significant. Our findings support one aspect of the life history model and provide groundwork for subsequent examination of other pathways in the model.

Indexed as

FathersAge FactorsFemaleHumansMenarcheNuclear Family

Identifiers

PMID25299880
PMCPMC10426907

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.