Sep 25 2009
Absent Fathers and Sexually Active Children
These two variables are linked: 1) No dad in the house, 2) the age of first sexual intercourse in children. Of course, whenever a link is discovered speculation begins on how the two variables are connected. As for children having sex sooner when there is no dad in the house, there have been a number of mechanisms proposed.
Without a socially conservative dad around, children become more sexually liberal.
Without a dad in the house, girls will fill the void by seeking male companions, and we all know what men want. (But what about boys?)
Etc.
New research has identified a possible mechanism that is so straightforward and simple, it nearly caused my to slap my forehead and cry, “Well, d’uh!”
Jane Mendle, from the University of Oregon, and a team of researchers collected data from over 1000 biologically related teenagers. The data included sociological and personality factors, as well as DNA. Their finding -
The more genes the children shared, the more similar their ages of first intercourse—regardless of whether or not the children personally had an absent father. This finding, the researchers say, suggests that environmental theories don’t fully explain the puzzle. Instead, genetic influence can help us understand the tie between fathers’ absence and early sex.
That kinda makes sense. Children with dads who wander beyond the family and don’t come back, so to speak, may have “wandering” genes themselves. Interesting.
