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How Long Until Kittens Can Eat Dry Food
Normally the kitten weaning process begins at about four weeks of age.
How long until kittens can eat dry food. After the first four weeks of mother s milk a kitten gradually transitions to kitten food and is completely weaned at about eight weeks. Your four week old kittens can eat dry food but it may be tough at first. Between two to three months most of the cat owners already know that we should feed only kitten food for ten weeks.
Buy this milk replacer at pet and farm supply stores and some grocery stores. Most kittens will still want to nurse even after they are on dry food. Here s what you need to know once you ve brought your.
Mother cats typically begin weaning their kittens when they are around 4 weeks old and complete the process between 8 and 10 weeks. As they grow used to eating solid food and their teeth continue to develop begin to mix in dry food softened with a bit of water. Don t use the cow s milk you drink or you ll likely end up with sick kittens on your hands.
The weaning process normally begins when kittens are around four weeks old and is usually completed when they reach eight to ten weeks. Begin by feeding your kitten soft or wet canned food. You can begin incorporating very soft solid food as your kitten is weaned and can introduce a full diet of solid food when the weaning process is completed.
Orphaned kittens should get kitten formula not cow s milk. If you are in charge of weaning an orphaned kitten please. Do not give them too much food at one time as they cannot digest it.
When can kittens eat hard food. When your kittens are between two to three months we highly recommend you feed them at least three to four times per day. Breastfeeding a kitten lasts about 9 weeks and when their teeth begin to come in after about four weeks they can begin to eat food.
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Sarp was founded in the places that had belonged to the Serenissima Republic of Venice and in which the economic boom had taken place in the 60s.
Sarp history has always been characterized by dedication to work, which has been handed down by the founders Giovanni and Stefano Salvalaggio to their sons. Alessandra, Alberto, Matteo and Nicola nowadays represent the second generation of a company which will be exporting Made in Italy worldwide.
Sarp was founded in 1986, between the medieval towns of Cittadella and Castelfranco Veneto, right in the middle of an industrial district specialized in the production of plants for pasta.
Firmly bound to the flexible, quick and very productive entrepreneurial culture, which characterizes our area, Sarp has quickly foreseen the possibilities linked to the globalization of markets, also thanks to Salvalaggios’ Swiss origins (Glarus Canton).
Over the years, the company has grown from a family model to a modern organization and an international level, while keeping its original values.
Currently the founders, Giovanni e Stefano Salvalaggio, are supported by their sons who prove themselves fundamental thanks to their knowledge and managerial skills.
In addition to the loyalty of our customers we also got other prizes:
“Marco Polo Prize“
Received in 2003 from “Centro Estero delle Camere di Commercio del Veneto”.
“Civiltà del lavoro Prize“
Received in 1998 from “Regione Veneto” for the perseverance and commitment not only in Veneto Region, but also internationally.
“Ercole d’Oro Prize“
Received in 1989 from the State of Italy as an international award for the high degree of preparation and the active contribution to the development of italian projects in the world.
“Padova che lavora Prize“
Received in 1986 from “Provincia di Padova” for their efforts in promoting the City of Padua in the world.
Other Italian and international awards for our work.

domain: history


NICE!!! get your serial number decoded. it can tell you everything from where it was produced, and what model number.... bet you find that just as interesting.
Haven't run it since the latest round of mods. But last time with just ehxaust and a few bolt ons was a wheel spinning [email protected]. I know with DR's I would have been in the 12's even with those 2.73's based on the traps. Getting the car tuned next payday so I can finally run it all out without it cutting off at the factory 118 preset with is now way off due to the 4.11's.What does the car run now in the 1/4?


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Amit Shah heads government panel dealing with sexual harassment at workplace
Other than Home Minister Amit Shah, the reconstituted panel will also comprise of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Minister of Human Resource Development Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and Union Minister of Women and Child Development Smriti Irani.
The panel was set up last year in the wake of the MeToo campaign which claimed the scalp of union minister MJ Akbar
The earlier panel, whose tenure was co-terminus with the term of NDA 1, wound up without transacting any business
There was no clarity on whether the panel was constituted in accordance with the Vishaka guidelines and the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act 2013 which mandate that a woman should lead the panel
The government reconstituted the panel of ministers to deal with prevention of sexual harassment at workplace. Home Minister Amit Shah will head the revised group of ministers to strengthen the legal and institutional frameworks.
The reconstituted panel will also comprise of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Minister of HRD Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and Union Minister of Women and Child Development Smriti Irani, The News Minute reported.
It also mentioned that the Home Ministry would continue to give administrative support to the group of ministers.
"The group of ministers was set up on 18 July since the previous panel lapsed ahead of the formation of the new government," spokesman Shelat Harit Ketan said.
However, there was no clarity on whether the panel was constituted in accordance with the Vishaka guidelines and the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, which states that anti-sexual harassment panels must be formed keeping a woman at the helm, or at least have two women members and an external member from non-governmental organisation working on women-related issues.
Set up as a response to the MeToo movement on 24 October, 2018, the previous panel was dissolved without accomplishing anything. The revised panel was formed three days after The Quint reported that they filed RTIs to investigate the contribution of the Committee.
The government responded to the RTI saying, "It is to inform you that with the constitution of the seventeenth Lok Sabha and formation of new government, said Committee is no longer in existence."
The move attracted criticism because it is being seen as paying lip service to the MeToo movement. Journalist Revati Laul told Huffpost: "This reveals the government’s lack of interest in and commitment to the issue. They formed a panel with ministers on it. Did they reach out to the women leading the movement? Did they reach out to any survivor and consult them on what needs to be done?"
Some Twitterati questioned why Shah was heading the panel when there were woman members. Others mocked the move referring to the Snoopgate controversy and Shah's alleged but as yet unproven role in it.
The MeToo campaign had triggered a public outcry in the country, with former minister in the NDA government, MJ Akbar, and Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi among dozens of high-profile men accused of sexual misconduct.
With inputs from Reuters
Find latest and upcoming tech gadgets online on Tech2 Gadgets. Get technology news, gadgets reviews & ratings. Popular gadgets including laptop, tablet and mobile specifications, features, prices, comparison.
Delhi LG inaugurates 10,000-bed Sardar Patel COVID care centre, says will play 'crucial role' against pandemic
More than 1,000 doctors, nurses and paramedics of the ITBP and other Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), and another 1,000 paramedics, assistants and security staff have been deployed at the facility in Delhi for its smooth operation.
COVID-19 situation in Delhi under control, says Arvind Kejriwal, cautions against lapses in precautions
The chief minister said that the situation is not as 'terrible' as predicted one month ago, asserting that at present, the number of active coronavirus cases has been decreasing instead of increasing.
Park, who was serving his third term as mayor of Seoul, a city of 10 million, had often been cited as a possible successor to President Moon Jae-in, whose single five-year term is set to expire in 2022

domain: sociology


Vytas Baskauskas may have been the first person voted out of CBS's "Survivor: Second Chance," but it was only by two votes. Abi was on the edge of her seat during the first tribal council as she watched her "Survivor" life flash before her eyes. The Phillippines native was not too happy about the close call and let her tribe know about it in episode 2 as the drama continued in Cambodia.
Here's how it all went down in episode 2:
When Ta Keo returned to camp, the "old school" tribe members -- Terry, Kelly and Woo -- were feeling uneasy with Jeff having flipped on them in the first tribal council. However, Jeff revealed that his true loyalties still lie with the old school. He approached Terry and said that while he had voted for Vytas, he now hoped to turn the tables on Spencer or Shirin, whom he said were playing too hard in a game that was moving "lightning quick."
Meanwhile, at Bayon everyone was noticing how Joe seemed to be a natural at island life, building hammocks and catching fish to take care of the tribe. Stephen, who said they would have to get rid of him right after the merge, dubbed him Survivor MacGyver.
Later, Andrew told Bayon the story of how he met his wife, which turned out to be a Nicholas Sparks-worthy epic about about an international beauty queen/law student who happened upon the apartment of a modest, up and coming lawyer. The tale had just about the whole tribe crying. Even Kass admitted that maybe she could learn from this group of people to be a better person. Even Jeremy had to walk away to collect himself, revealing to the audience (but not the tribe) that his wife was pregnant. Stephen immediately suspected Jeremy of searching for an idol and that lack of compassion did not impress Andrew, who immediately pegged him as the first to go from their tribe.
Back at Ta Keo, Abi was not handling having received votes at tribal council well and she was taking out her frustration on the tribe, particularly Peih-Gee. It all hit a climax when Abi caught Peih-Gee and Shirin talking about her behind her back. This led to a fight and, eventually, Abi's whole alliance laughing at her in the shelter while she sat alone on the beach. Terry decided to give Abi some company, initially out of sympathy, but soon realizing the strategic opportunity as Abi suggested she could join the old school alliance. That was all Jeff needed to hear to approach Abi too and plot to take out Spencer and Shirin. Abi was all too game, believing Shirin should have stood up for her with Peih-Gee.
At the reward challenge the tribes had to climb over three A-frame walls with a long rope, then tie the rope to a heavy crate to it pull along a long track. Finally, they had to open the crate and solve a puzzle with the pieces inside. Up for grabs was both immunity and reward -- a tool kit, including a saw, a hammer and rope.
The tribes stayed neck and neck over the A-frames, but Bayon had a sizeable lead by the time they got to the puzzle. However, despite a lot of chaos and screaming from their tribe's backseat puzzle solvers, Spencer and Shirin caught up brought the challenge to a neck and neck finish. They even called Jeff over, believing they had solved the puzzle. Unfortunately, they were wrong and Joe was ready with the correct solution seconds later to win immunity and reward for Bayon. Afterwards, Jeff commented that Spencer and Shirin had their fate in their own hands, vowing that one of them would be going home that night.
Facing tribal council, Ta Keo coalesced around the idea of voting out either Shirin or Spencer. Jeff even pulled Kelley and Peih-Gee into the mix to create a super majority. Shirin and Spencer would have both likely gone to tribal council and been blindsided, too, but Abi spoiled things by throwing the alliance breakdown in Shirin's face in spite. That left Shirin and Spencer to scramble to save themselves. Unfortunately, no one seemed too receptive to working with them now. The only option they were left with was both trying to convince the tribe to vote for the other one, a situation that made them both emotional. In the end, the tribe split the vote, in case of a hidden immunity idol, but it was Shirin Oskooi who became the second person voted out of "Second Chance."
What did you think of Shirin getting voted out? Tweet your thoughts to @Ja9GarofaloTV.


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Inside the Story: The Attempted Binance Extortion Explained
In this video we explore how we researched and wrote our Binance KYC Leak story and what we know about the hacker, the hack, and the future of Binance.
Join us live Sept. 11-12 in Singapore at CoinDesk's Invest: Asia conference.
This week on CoinDesk Live, our own Brady Dale talks with Jimmy Song about his new book.
CoinDesk On Location goes deep inside a Siberian crypto mining factory situated near a remote hydroelectric plant.
CoinDesk travels to Florida to talk to supporters and detractors of the so-called creator of bitcoin.
Is Facebook's Libra a "concentration of power... unmatched by any meaningful accountability to anyone?" Legal expert Katharina Pistor thinks so.

domain: news


text:
Who Is Riaan da Horta
Riaan was born in the early seventies. In his growing year he spent most of his school years in boarding school. During his high school career he had joined the school SCA (School Christian Association), and his spiritual journey begun with a fresh commitment……Find Out More Here
Is Throne room Etiquette available in stores?
We have and will continue to encourage stores to stock our book.
At the moment Throne Room Etiquette is available only from the author but be sure to keep an eye on our page for updates on which store is added to partners in distributing copies.
Is Throne Room Etiquette available on line?
Absolutely Yes!! Copies are available for purchase from any one of our online distributors where it can be ordered in paperback or digital format from any where in the world.
You can also check it out and order your copy here on this site (Order Page) any time after our official book launch on September 12th.
Can I order my copy directly from the author?
Yes. Our office has copies in stock and will supply copies on order. We will gladly mail it to you. The cost will be the authors price and postage.
Are discounts available for bulk orders?
Yes indeed. We offer a discount to churches or stores for bulk orders and will be happy to discuss the terms of any bulk orders.

domain: literature


USS Torsk (SS-423)
The USS Torsk (SS-423) is docked at the Baltimore Maritime Museum and is one of two Tench Class submarines still located inside the United States. It is nicknamed the "Galloping Ghost of the Japanese Coast." In 1945, Torsk made two war patrols off Japan, sinking one cargo vessel and two coastal defense frigates. The latter of these, torpedoed on 14 August 1945, was the last enemy ship sunk by the U.S. Navy in World War II.


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The “white widow” is not the first suspected terrorist to have used a South African passport.
East African al-Qaeda leader Fazul Abdullah Mohamed; British citizen Haroon Rashid Aswat; al-Qaeda member Ihsan Garnaoui; wanted Libyan citizen Ibrahim Tantoush; and wanted suspect Mohammed Gulzar have reportedly also used South African travel documents.
Claims this week that Samantha Lewthwaite had used a South African passport raises questions about why terrorists prefer our travel documents, says security analyst Ryan Cummings.
Although there is little evidence that Lewthwaite – dubbed the “white widow” – has been directly involved the Kenyan Westgate mall massacre, her name has come up in numerous international reports about this week’s attack carried out by al-Shabaab militants.
Lewthwaite allegedly entered Kenya last year using a South African passport under the name Natalie Faye Webb.
Cummings, a chief analyst at crisis management firm Red24, said a possible reason terror suspects prefer to use South African passports is that South Africa is perceived as a neutral country. Its passports were not easily flagged compared with a country like Pakistan, he said.
He said there was a need to find out whether the people in possession of these documents forge them or work in cahoots with corrupt government officials.
Cummings said serious questions needed to be asked about the accessibility of these documents.
“Are terrorists entering the country on fake documents and then using networks within RSA to access legitimate documents that can then be used to aid them in entering their end destination?” he said.
Home Affairs ministerial spokesperson Lunga Ngqengelele had not responded to a request for comment by the time of publication.
» Suspected terrorists with SA passports
» In June 2011, the Somalia Report reported East African al-Qaeda leader Fazul Abdullah Mohamed, who was killed in a shoot-out in Mogadishu, was found with a South African passport. He had been linked to the 1998 bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.
» British citizen Haroon Rashid Aswat was arrested in Zambia in 2005 while travelling on a South African passport. He had lived in Johannesburg for a few month prior to his arrest, and he had received calls on his South African cellphone from a suicide bomber linked to the London 7/7 bombings. Source: ISS
» Ihsan Garnaoui, a member of the Tunisian branch of al-Qaeda, told German investigators in 2003 that he had several South African passports. He had been accused of planning to blow up American and Jewish targets in Germany. Source: ISS
» Also in 2003, wanted Libyan citizen Ibrahim Tantoush, a suspected al-Qaeda member, used a fake South African passport to travel from Malaysia to Australia. Indonesian authorities deported him to South Africa. Source: ISS
» Wanted suspect Mohammed Gulzar lived in SA under a pseudonym and had a fake South African passport. He was wanted in connection with a plot to blow up international flights. Source: ISS
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Quote of a Generation – A discovery he never thought he’d see…
Scientists at the world’s biggest atom smasher have announced the discovery of a brand-new particle—and it looks an awful lot like the long-sought Higgs boson, also known as the “God particle,” without which the universe as we know it wouldn’t exist.
“It is an incredible thing that has happened in my lifetime.”
– Peter Higgs, physicist who theorized the existence of the Higgs boson
According to CERN, the existence of this particle was confirmed in two separate experiments at the Large Hadron Collider—a massive underground particle accelerator that spans the border of France and Switzerland—and there’s less than a one-in-a-million chance that the data is a fluke.
Higgs first proposed the existence of the new particle more than half a century ago to explain a mystery: Why do most elementary particles have mass? Without mass there would be no atoms; no chemistry; no biology—and certainly none of us.
The concept of mass has long been a sticking point in the Standard Model, which describes all known elementary particles, and how they interact.
- CERN discovers Higgs-like boson (physicsworld.com)
- Higgs boson: it’s unofficial! Cern scientists discover missing particle (guardian.co.uk)
- What Finding the Higgs-Boson Means (wired.com)
- Newly Discovered Particle Appears to Be Long-Awaited Higgs Boson (wired.com)
- What is the Higgs boson & what does its discovery mean? (itv.com)
- Particle ‘Consistent’ With Higgs Boson Discovered (news.discovery.com)
- Cern discovers ‘God Particle’ (news.techeye.net)
- Cern Large Hadron Collider scientists hail God particle find (independent.co.uk)
Posted on July 4, 2012, in Announcement, creativity, Education, News, Opinion, Science, Technology, Word from Bill and tagged CERN, Elementary particle, France, Higgs boson, Large Hadron Collider, Peter Higgs, Standard Model, Switzerland. Bookmark the permalink. Comments Off on Quote of a Generation – A discovery he never thought he’d see….


Football Tribe Thailand
Port FC celebrate their first FA Cup trophy in ten years with a victory over Ratchaburi FC in a game involving two red cards and two goals chalked off by VAR.
The Klongtoey Army filled up the BG Stadium with shades of orange and blue, creating a vibrant which the players definitely feed on. The emotional Pakorn Prempak, who only a few months back got into an altercation with his own fans, looked really up for the occasion and caused Ratchaburi FC all sorts of trouble down the flank.
The right-winger’s deep cross and a little header nudge by striker Sergio Suarez found Bordin Phala at the back post but Ratchaburi FC right-back Philip Roller was there to cleared the danger away. A moment later, Pakorn’s powerful shot forced a save from goalkeeper Ukrit Wongmeema – that was two decent chances in just the first 20 minutes.
Dragon’s left-back Jirawat Thongsaengphrao was having an issue closing down Pakorn Prempak and was replaced by the more physical and defensive-minded Alongkorn Pathumwong.
In the 25th minute, Jirawat followed Pakorn high up the pitch, exposing a huge gap on the left side of the Ratchaburi defense. Go Seul Ki’s long ball over the top found Sergio Suarez free, the Spanish midfielder instinctively squared a pass onto Sumanya Purisai’s perfectly-timed run. The ball hits the back of the net, the crowd goes wild.
However, the celebration was cancelled when VAR correctly ruled the goal offside.
Port FC continued to dominate most of the possession, largely due to Ratchaburi’s poor composure on the ball. Yet, a fantastic burst of pace from captain Philip Roller carried the ball forward from the halfway line to Port FC’s penalty area. Pacey forward Steeven Langil picked up Roller’s overhit cross on the opposite corner flag then drilled in a hard near post cross which was fumbled by keeper Worawut Srisupha and bundled in by Lossémy Karaboué.
Nevertheless, VAR ruled the goal out once more due to Karaboué’s stumble on Worawut just seconds before the cross from Langil came in. Ratchaburi were, understandably, furious with the decision and headed into the break frustrated.
The occasion might’ve got into the Ratchaburi players’ heads as they start the second half in such a sluggish manner – sitting considerably deeper, offering the opposition time and space to circulate the ball around.
And after two minutes of Port FC-only possession, the Lions took the lead via Sergio Suarez’s technical brilliance. Midfield conductor Go Seul-Ki was free to lookup for a pass and, with great vision, picked out Suarez’s vertical run down at the heart of the Ratchaburi backline. Suarez brought the ball down with a superb first-touch before finishing with a simple poke – no need for VAR this time.
Lossémy Karaboué was perhaps the liveliest of the attacking trio, where he partnered Yannick Boli and Steeven Langil. The three of them have been a crucial weapon for Ratchaburi FC this season. Karaboué’s 65th-minute long-distance effort the closest Ratchaburi got to an equalizer.
Things got even worst for Ratchaburi when centre-back Pawee Tanthatemee brought down Kevin Deeromram in a sprint race and was awarded his second yellow. Replay showed there was little contact. But Pawee wasn’t the only one sent for an early bath that night as Pakorn was also sent off in extra-time for stepping on Roller’s ankle.
The only notable thing from the following freekick was the final whistle which earned Port FC their 3rd FA Cup trophies – their first FA Cup triumph in 10 years and their first silverware under the reign of chairwomen Nualphan Lamsam, better known as Madame Pang. The side can hold their heads high after finally having some silverware to show for the investment injected in the squad in recent seasons, and have made the league far more colorful and exciting by continuing to compete at the upper echelons of the Thai game.


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Our Belize Home Conference Kit is the most in-depth resource that you’ll find anywhere about living, retiring, or investing in Belize. This massive kit contains all of the components of our Belize Starter Kit, plus every presentation made during our recent Live and Invest in Belize Conference.
Our All-New Belize On Demand program includes:
All 30 video recordings from our recent Live and Invest in Belize Virtual Conference (a $516.21 value)…
Special Belize Reports (a US$39.80 value)… These include:
Placencia: The Quintessential White-Sand Caribbean Haven
Ambergris Caye: Caribbean Jewel In The Belizean Crown
In this Overseas Haven Report, we feature Sanur, Bali, Indonesia.
Consider Sanur if you like the thought of living by a pretty beach located on a gorgeous, world-renowned tropical island, enjoying easy access to fresh and organic foods, eating at great restaurants, making friends with the genuinely welcoming local people, and meeting plenty of like-minded foreigners who have become enchanted with the laid-back lifestyle that this town offers.
In a golden corner of Panama’s Azuero Peninsula sits the town of Pedasí. It’s a town with a village atmosphere—large enough to feel like you can live there, yet small enough to make you feel like an active stakeholder in a thriving community.
San Miguel de Allende, Mexico | Overseas Haven Report
In this Overseas Haven Report, we feature San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
San Miguel de Allende has the small-town friendliness and hominess that most expats crave, set in a remarkably beautiful and sociable colonial town. Centrally located in Mexico, San Miguel is a good base for exploration of the country in all four directions.
This Overseas Haven Report features one of Kathleen Peddicord’s favorite parts of the world, Paris, and specifically one of the most sought after locales in Paris, the Marais. It’s a location that’s not low cost, for sure, but once you get stuck into Parisian living, (and you’ve survived the sticker-shock of the cost of renting or buying) it’s not as expensive as you may think.
Our Overseas Haven Report for Vung Tau, Vietnam features the ins-and-outs of this Southeast Asia destination. Although it is a small town, Vung Tau offers lots for expats to do, from visiting temples to beach activities.

domain: travel


I begin my comparison of the new Sig Xi and the yet to be released IWI Galil Ace, both rifles being chambered in 7.62x39. The Sig Xi and Galil Ace are destine to be direct competitors, which one will come out on top?
SHOT 2017 - Is the KelTec M43 still a thing?
Sosso 1941 Italian Prototype Pistol
Bushmaster ACR Enhanced vs ACR DMR
Viewer Mail Call: Facebook Questions #9 (HD)
Shot Show 2016 Red White and Ben at the Sig booth


text:
|Title:||Determination of mycotoxins in the seeds of sunflower, soybean and corn by enzyme immunoassay|
|Authors:||Oleynikova, I. I.|
Krut, U. A.
Shaidorova, G. M.
Kuzubova, E. V.
Radchenko, A. I.
fumonisins B1, B2
|Citation:||Determination of mycotoxins in the seeds of sunflower, soybean and corn by enzyme immunoassay / I.I. Oleynikova [et al.] // EurAsian Journal of BioSciences. - 2020. - Vol.14, №1.-P. 1449-1453.|
|Abstract:||The implementation of the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay is based on a highly specific reaction "antigen-antibody", the detection of which occurs due to a change in the color of the corresponding substrate with the introduction of the enzymatic component. To study the contamination of mycotoxins of various varieties of crops (soybean, sunflower, corn) cultivated in the Central Сhernozemregion region of Russia. The study was conducted by a direct competitive enzyme immunoassay using the Multiskan FC microbiological analyzer|
|Appears in Collections:||Статьи из периодических изданий и сборников (на иностранных языках) = Articles from periodicals and collections (in foreign languages)|
|Oleynikova_Determination.pdf||307.52 kB||Adobe PDF||View/Open|
Items in DSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.

domain: biology


text:
Research has previously found a number of apparently contradictory patterns in the relationship between ‘father absence’ (having a non-resident father during childhood) and the expression of gender roles, as well as other sexually dimorphic traits such as aggression. In the current study we measured a battery of sexually differentiated traits in relation to family background. 133 men and 558 women from the United States and Australia completed the Bem Sex Role Inventory, the Barrett Impulsivity Scale, the Fear Survey Schedule and the Buss & Perry Aggression Questionnaire. Principal components analysis found two main axes of variation in these traits. Firstly, a general ‘reactivity’ factor, on which aggression, impulsivity, and fear all loaded positively, was weakly associated with father absence in women. Secondly, ‘masculinity’ (consisting of high scores on masculine traits, low fear, and physical and verbal aggression) was not associated with father absence. Participants (except American males) reporting a poor childhood relationship with their parents also had high ‘reactivity’ but not higher ‘masculinity’. We found some evidence of a link between father absence and earlier age of first coitus in American females (although not in Australia), but there was no link with age of menarche in either country. Overall, the current results suggest that previous findings linking gender development with father absence in girls may have arisen from a tendency towards greater externalising and reactive behaviour rather than a change in gender development per se.
Citation: Boothroyd LG, Cross CP (2017) Father absence and gendered traits in sons and daughters. PLoS ONE 12(7): e0179954. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0179954
Editor: Alex Mesoudi, University of Exeter, UNITED KINGDOM
Received: February 17, 2016; Accepted: June 7, 2017; Published: July 5, 2017
Copyright: © 2017 Boothroyd, Cross. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Data Availability: All relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files.
Funding: LGB was supported during data collection and initial drafting of the manuscript by the Economic and Social Research Council (PTA-026-27-0475).
Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Historically, interest in the developmental significance of ‘father absence’ (that is, non-residence of a child’s biological father for some or all of their childhood) has come from a number of sources. Father absence is currently primarily the focus of Evolutionary Anthropologists and Psychologists with an interest in predictors of life history variation and reproductive development (see e.g. [1, 2]). However, there also exist substantial Developmental Psychology literatures addressing father absence from the perspective both of psycho-social wellbeing and, more pertinently to the current paper, gender development (e.g. ). The literature on father absence and gender development tailed off following Stephenson & Black’s 1988 meta-analysis, with gender researchers growing interested in other developmental questions (for instance, the growing polarisation around constructivism ‘versus’ biological influences; see e.g.  for a review). More recent developments in the evolutionary literature, however, suggest that re-visiting the question of how father absence relates to sexually dimorphic behaviours may be warranted [5, 6]. In the current paper, we first take an overview of extant data regarding links between father absence, physiology and gender development. Second, we test the proposition that father absence may masculinise children’s developing sex roles and behaviour by comparing groups on multiple traits which are known to show sex differences in adults.
Timing of puberty and reproductive behaviour.
At least 16 studies in the last 25 years have found that father absence prior to puberty is associated with earlier menarche in daughters in Western samples (see e.g.  for a review) and there is evidence from studies of siblings that this association is environmental in nature . Suggestions regarding the causation of this link have included the effects of stress on the endocrine system, the possible effects of exposure to familiar/stranger male pheromones and the effects of psychological reactions to stress on eating and therefore fat deposition (which is important in the timing of menarche). Because puberty is much harder to date retrospectively in men (lacking such a singular event as menarche), there has been far less research into father absence and sons’ development. Of what little exists, some has suggested that they too experience earlier puberty, while other researchers have found no links (see  for review) and others still have recently found father absence to predict later puberty in sons [9, 10].
In addition to timing of puberty, father absence and parent-child relationships are also associated with timing of first coitus and even first pregnancy in offspring (e.g. [11–13])–perhaps because of earlier physiological readiness for reproduction, or perhaps for more psychosocial reasons arising from (or related to) the parent-child relationship. One candidate psychological feature which might mediate a relationship between father absence and early coitus is impulsivity. Impulsivity has been linked not only with aggressive behaviour (as discussed below) but also with willingness to engage in casual sex with multiple partners .
Waynforth  found that amongst the Maya of Belize, men with separated parents (who were all father absent) showed significantly greater craniofacial masculinity (as measured by the size of three key facial dimensions). Similarly, Boothroyd and Perrett  found amongst a British student sample, that parental separation (again, almost always resulting in the child becoming father absent) in early childhood was associated with increased ratings of facial masculinity in young women. Such differences could be of a genetic nature (i.e. androgenised parents have more likelihood of marital breakdown, and have more masculine offspring) although the evidence of environmental causation above regarding puberty may make this less likely. Alternatively the link here may also be environmental such that either: stress or perhaps pheromone exposure in childhood affects pubertal hormone levels and thus affects facial structure; or, perhaps less likely, masculinised offspring could in some way be a catalyst to marital breakdown. In either respect, these data suggested that father absence may be associated with physical androgenisation and as such, that broader patterns of behavioural differences between father absent and father present offspring, may also be explicable in these terms. A key challenge in addressing this question, however, is the fact that the vast majority of research has focused on one or two measures at a time and as such falls short of giving a holistic view of whether father absence is indeed a moderator of gendered behaviour. In this following section, therefore, we will consider the different aspects of gender researched in this context so far: explicit gender role, and aggression, fearfulness, and impulsivity, which all show sex differences by adulthood.
Research into father absence and gender role has historically produced rather mixed results. Some studies have found that father absence due to divorce was associated with low masculinity in boys (e.g. [16–18]) and others found no effect (e.g. : our analyses of parental divorce/gender role frequencies presented in the paper gives χ2 = 2.87, p = .41). Stevenson & Black  attempted to synthesise the existing results in a meta-analysis of North American research up until 1986. They split studies on the basis of type of methodology, aspect of gender studied, age of subjects, and reason for father absence, amongst other factors. While there were insufficient studies to look at interactions between these factors, they did find that different groups of studies found different results. When split by participant age, confidence intervals confirmed that the significant association between father absence and feminine gender role was strongest in boys under 7 years of age, slight in 7–12 year olds and over 18s and absent in 13–17 year olds. This difference persisted in both lower and middle class samples (although not “unspecified” samples). More importantly, when they compared different aspects of gender, they found that amongst boys and men, father absence was associated with feminine gender orientation and preference, while it was associated with masculine gender adoption (I.e. sons of absent fathers seemed to think in a feminine way, but behave in a masculine way). This is concordant with Beatrice Whiting’s  suggestion that father-absent boys will have a feminine gender identity due to identification with the mother during childhood, and masculine behaviour as a reaction against this socially inappropriate feminine identity (‘protest masculinity’).
However, Stephenson & Black also split the studies on reasons for father absence. They found that father absence due to unspecified reasons (69 studies) or military service (7 studies) was associated with a more feminine gender role, but there were no overall effects of father’s death (7 studies) or parental divorce (33 studies). Whether this means that father absence due to divorce has no effect on gender, or whether in fact half of the ‘divorce’ studies show masculine behaviour while the other half show feminine identity as above, is impossible to say. Furthermore, they found no effects amongst studies of white boys, only amongst studies of Black or unspecified populations. It is therefore very unclear exactly how father absence, particularly father absence due to parental separation, relates to gender role development in males.
Similarly, there are mixed results in terms of the effects of father absence on girls’ gender development, although there have been far fewer studies looking at girls. Hetherington  found that teenage girls with divorced parents (who were all father absent), a dead father, or living with both married parents did not differ in terms of sex role. However, Vess et al  found that early parental divorce was associated with greater masculinity in girls, while late parental divorce (teens) was associated with femininity in girls (although the different groups were small and they assumed, but did not confirm, divorce to be synonymous with father absence). Stevenson & Black  found almost no overall effects of father absence on girls’ gender development. When the studies were split by participant’s age, 13–17 year old girls (10 studies) did show that father absence led to less sex-typed gender but there were no differences in any of the different groups for type of father absence, aspect of gender, race or socio-economic status (SES).
This apparent ambiguity in results is perhaps less surprising when one considers that the absence of the father from the family home does not necessarily imply the complete absence of the father from the child’s life. Furthermore, in all types of family, the relationship between the parents and the child can vary greatly. Later research into fathers and child’s gender therefore moved on to address the relationship with the father rather than his presence/absence per se. Unfortunately, however, this literature also found ambiguous results. For instance, Kelly & Worrell  and Jackson et al  both found that warm fathers were associated with androgynous sons (sons had high levels of both masculine and feminine traits on sex role tests), but while Jackson et al found the same pattern in daughters, Kelly & Worrell found no association between paternal warmth and sex role in daughters. Similarly, Orlofsky  found that rejecting fathers were associated with feminine sons and masculine daughters, but contrary to this, Stevenson  found that close fathers were also related to masculine daughters, and found no effect in sons. Most recently, Yang , looked at parent-child relationships and gender in Korean children and found no link between the two.
Other researchers have considered whether there are different socialisation patterns in different kinds of households. For instance, Biller  looked at mother’s encouragement of masculine/feminine behaviours and found that discouragement of masculine behaviours seemed to mediate the lack of masculine gender role in father-absent boys (see  for further discussion of the role of mother’s attitudes). On the other hand, some researchers have suggested that it is fathers which lead to greater gender typing in intact families. Siegal  conducted a meta-analysis of parental gender socialisation behaviours and found that although only half of 39 studies showed an effect of child gender on father’s behaviour, there was a significant trend across the studies for fathers to treat their children differently depending on their gender. The effect size for fathers was significantly greater than that for mothers, with the latter not differing significantly from zero.
Research in this area appears to have largely halted during the 1980s; a search of the literature (for publications citing Stevenson & Black and/or using the keywords: gender, masculinity, father absence, divorce) only revealed the work of Yang  as cited above and . The latter found that father absence was associated with less traditional gender roles (i.e. less masculine sons and more masculine daughters) in African American teenagers, particularly amongst lower SES families. A body of recent research, however, has been conducted with children of lesbian couples. These studies have reported no differences in gender identity and adoption between children raised by lesbian couples (who do not have a father in the home) and children raised by heterosexual couples (see  for a review). This has two possible implications. Firstly it seems to support the notion that it is psychosocial stress and family attitudes which lead to differences (if any) between father-absent and father present individuals. Alternatively, it may suggest that some underlying genetic factor (such as androgenisation, as discussed below) mediates both parental relationship success and offspring gender identity–such that children whose mothers have more lasting adult relationships (be it a hetero- or homosexual relationship) may have different gender identity than children whose mothers experience relationship breakdown. More research is required, therefore, to determine exactly what about the absence of a father in the home causes differences in development.
Specific sexually dimorphic behaviours
Aggression and delinquency.
A key dimorphic trait of particular relevance to father absence is aggression. Physical aggression is a strongly sexually dimorphic trait, with differences appearing before 2 years of age  and continuing into adulthood. Male-male homicide vastly exceeds female-female homicide in all societies for which data exists (see e.g. [32, 33] for comprehensive reviews) and men consistently show higher levels of physical aggression than women across both laboratory studies and questionnaires (see e.g. [32, 34, 35]).
Differences between children from intact and father absent/separated households in rates of physical aggression were first identified (primarily amongst boys) in the mid-C20th (see e.g.  for discussion) and there is evidence that father absence has continued to be associated with aggression, delinquency and problem behaviours across later decades. For instance, Cherlin et al  found in a 1960s British sample and a 1970s American sample that parental divorce was associated with greater problem behaviours in children (although there was no difference in American girls). Hetherington  also found an association between father absence due to divorce (but not father’s death) and increased levels of aggression in teenage girls. Similarly, Berezckei & Czanaky  found using data from the late 1980s that boys whose parents were divorced and had been raised by their mothers (i.e. were father absent) engaged in significantly greater rule-breaking and delinquent behaviour during their teens than boys with intact families or with dead fathers. Again, however, they found no difference in girls. Stevenson & Black included aggression in their meta-analysis and found a significant overall association between father absence and aggression in both males (18 studies) and females (only 2 studies). Furthermore, there is cross cultural evidence that amongst patriarchal societies, ‘father absence’ (as indexed in the ethnographic record by a greater recorded sleeping distance between fathers and infants) is associated with higher levels of assault and homicide .
Fearfulness and impulsivity.
Fearfulness and impulsivity have a relevance to the father absence literature which is more secondary. Fearfulness is strongly sexually dimorphic, with women showing higher levels of phobias than men, rating identical situations as more fear-provoking, and being less likely to engage in physically dangerous activities [40, 41]. Although men tend to show higher levels of social fears, women are more likely to be afraid of anything which could cause injury (e.g. animals, heights, injections: ). Similarly, there is a significant sex difference in impulsivity across development (e.g. [42, 43]).
The gender differences in fearfulness and behavioural impulsivity have both been suggested as the psychological mechanism underlying the gender differences in physical aggression (see e.g.  for a review). One could therefore predict that the elevated levels of physical aggression in children of divorcees ought to be associated with lower levels of fearfulness and greater behavioural impulsivity. However, an extensive search of the literature yielded only one study which had measured fearfulness in children from different family backgrounds. Milne et al  observed that children living with both biological parents had lower levels of phobias than children who did not live with both parents. However, whether these latter children were specifically the children of separated parents (who tend to be, but are not always, father absent), or whether they also included children who were adopted, fostered or living with step-parents (all of which may be associated with behavioural problems) was not clear.
Regarding impulsivity, parental separation is associated with developmental disorders characterized by impulsivity and poor inhibitory control, such as ADHD and conduct disorder [46, 47] and there may be a link between father absence and non-pathological impulsivity. In early research, Mischel  found a link between father absence and reduced delay in gratification amongst Trinidadian children, and Cortes and Fleming  found father absent boys were reported as more impulsive and irritable than father present boys using an economically deprived African American sample. Young and Parish  found no link between father absence (of any kind) and cognitive impulsivity in college age women, using the matching family figures test. More recently, however, Rostad and colleagues  reported that great father psychological presence/closeness is associated with less impulsivity in college women (although they do not report a relationship with parental separation). Apart from these studies, it is difficult to find evidence using psychometric or laboratory assessments of impulsivity; research using other behaviors has however, found a link between father absence and, gambling and drug use , and sexual risk taking (e.g. [2, 53], although cf ).
Overall, there appear to be four contradictory aspects of the development of father-absent offspring compared to father-present offspring: (1) they appear to have no difference in, or feminisation of, their gender role identification; (2) they have no difference or masculinisation of their gender role adoption (particularly including elevated aggression and delinquency); (3) limited evidence suggests they have increased levels of sub-clinical fears (an apparently anti-masculine feature); (4) they may be more impulsive in some domains; (5) they have a masculinised appearance in at least 2 studies. These factors appear to defy theoretical integration. Thus far it appears no research has sought to study these traits simultaneously within the same population, which is essential if we are to try and understand how they link together.
The primary purpose of this paper was therefore to investigate the links between family structure during childhood and sexual dimorphism in multiple measures of behaviour and personality. Our hypothesis was that father absence and poorer quality family relationships are associated with greater general behavioural and psychological masculinity across both sexes. Participants were assessed using standardised self-report measures for aggression, impulsivity, fearfulness and sex role identity. These outcomes were then entered into a principal components analysis to investigate whether they would load onto a common ‘masculinity’ factor, such that a more masculine sex role would be associated with greater physical aggression, greater impulsivity, and reduced fearfulness.
The factors derived from the principal components analyses, and indices of reproductive development (in this case, timing of puberty and first coitus) were compared between participant family backgrounds. Should Boothroyd & Perrett’s  hypothesis be correct, father absence is associated with hormonal masculinisation which drives both pubertal/physical changes and broader behavioural changes. We would therefore predict that both males and females with absent fathers will show a shift towards the more male-typical end of the general masculinisation scale (i.e. more physically aggressive, more impulsive, less fearful and a more masculine sex role identity). However, should other previous suggestions (e.g. ) be correct, the higher levels of aggression in father-absent boys are a reaction to an initially feminised sex role identity, while father-absent girls have a similarly less gender-typical identity but no such later reaction against that identity. We would therefore predict that our sex role and behaviour measures would not share common variance and that men with absent fathers should show a more feminine sex role identity, coupled with higher levels of aggression, while women with absent fathers would show more general masculinity.
We tested the above hypotheses using a sample of young adult participants in the US and Australia, recruited via online repositories of social psychology research projects. Australia and the US are relatively high-parity nations in terms of gender empowerment: Their Global Gender Gap Index scores are 0.74 and 0.75, respectively . The GGI ranges from 0, which represents the greatest possible inequality, to 1, representing perfect equality. Scores range from 0.51 (Yemen) to 0.86 (Iceland) for the 142 countries assessed in 2014. Australia and the US also have Global Gender Inequality indices of 0.11 and 0.28 respectively . A GII of 0 represents ‘perfect’ gender equality and 1 represents the highest possible levels of inequality. Of the 155 countries with a GII in 2014, the range is 0.02 (Slovenia) to 0.74 (Yemen). Furthermore, Australia and the US have similar profiles in terms of Hofstede’s national masculinity-femininity index (Australia: 62, USA: 62), and the factor structure and sex differences found for the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI: a self-report measure of the extent to which the respondent considers themselves to possess the personality and behavioural traits deemed more desirable in each sex) have been reported to be similar in Australia to those found in US samples . Kashima et al  examined cross-cultural variation in sex differences in self-construal across five cultures including the mainland US and Australia (The others were Hawaii, South Korea, and Japan). They performed multidimensional scaling on measures of seven traits including agency, assertiveness, and emotional relatedness to others. They reported striking similarities between the mainland US and Australian samples with regard to the pattern of sex differences.
Some of our dimensions of interest show significantly greater sex differences within the US than other areas of the West, including Australia (sex differences in childhood aggression ; cultural expressions of sex roles as indexed by advertisements ). However, some sex differences are larger in Australian samples (e.g. physical aggression ; fearfulness in children ). With regard to impulsivity, Cross et al  found consistent evidence that men score higher than women in US samples, but not in other Western countries (including Europe and Australia). Their meta-analysis, however, only found one study with Barrett Impulsivity Scale (BIS) data from Australia with a sample size of only 31 . So, while the Australian estimate (showing a small sex difference in the female direction) differed from the US mean, there is currently insufficient evidence that the two countries differ significantly with regard to sex differences in impulsivity.
Perhaps most crucially, there is evidence that parenting may influence relevant traits such as aggression similarly in the US and Australia . Furthermore, a meta-analysis examining differences in conduct problems between children from intact vs divorced or separated families found no difference between US samples and ‘other’ samples (a broad category of which some were Australian samples ).
691 American and Australian participants (448 Australian, 133 men) aged 17 to 29 (mean = 20.5) were recruited online via links on social psychology research sites. They were invited to take part in a study “investigating the links between childhood experiences and adult personality”. The majority of participants indicated their ethnicity as ‘white’, and the vast majority reported being undergraduate students. Demographic details of participants from each country are given in Table 1. Participants reported whether they thought their parents’ income when they were children had fallen into the top, upper middle, lower middle or bottom quartile (these were left undefined by specific financial boundaries); the majority reported upper middle (41.5%), or lower middle (39.9%), followed by bottom (12.4%) and top (6.1%).
(BSRI = Bem Sex Role Inventory; AQ = Aggression Questionnaire; FSS = Fear Survey Schedule; BIS = Barratt Impulsivity Scale.) Ns represent the number of participants providing data for each item/subscale.
Ethical approval for the research was granted by the Science Faculty Ethics Committee at Durham University. Participants gave consent via button click and details of online sources of support for those experiencing distress relating to divorce were given at the close of the study.
Participants completed a series of questionnaires online, firstly giving the demographic data above, and then reporting on measures of the following variables (see text in S1 Text for items):
Participants reported whether their parents had separated, who they lived with and at what age any separation occurred. Participants were classified as father absent if their parents had separated before they were 12 and they continued to live with their mothers, or if they had only ever lived with their mothers. Where parental separation (followed by living with the mother) occurred after they were 12, they were classified as father absent after 12. Those who lived with their parents until they left home were classed as father present. Age 12 was used in order to match the family relationship data below. Unfortunately, there were insufficient father-absent male participants to treat the two father-absent groups separately (final Ns = 11 after 12 years, 17 before 12 years) and so they were amalgamated for analyses with males. For women, we ran an analysis comparing all three categories, which was followed up with a secondary analysis which used the same two categories as were used for men. Furthermore, because there were only six father absent males in the US sample who reported age of first coitus and only three who responded to all behavioural questionnaires, all US males were excluded from father absence analyses. Anyone whose parents died, or who lived only with their fathers, or whose parents had joint custody were coded as missing. Furthermore, anyone reporting ‘other’ was also coded as missing.
Participants rated the warmth with which they recalled each parent, and the quality of their biological parents’ relationship, before the participant reached 12 years, on a 1–9 Likert scale. This measure has previously been used by Boothroyd & Perrett [6, 65] and has been shown to relate to bodily masculinity, age of menarche and facial preferences. It also correlates with Adult Attachment classification (using the Hazen & Shaver questionnaire; see Boothroyd & Perrett ). All three variables were entered into a principal components analysis, which yielded a single component containing all three measures positively loaded (loadings ranged from .77 to .88) and explained 71% of the variance. Scores from this component were used as a measure of family relationship quality thereafter.
Participants completed the Buss & Perry Aggression Questionnaire (AQ) , a measure which was developed to assess aggression in school and college age samples in the United States, and which exhibits significant sex differences on the physical aggression scale both within and outwith the US such that males score higher than females (e.g. [66, 67]). Participants rated the extent to which 29 statements were characteristic of them on a 5 point scale. Mean scores were calculated for each of the four subscales: verbal aggression (e.g. “I can’t help getting into arguments when people disagree with me”), physical aggression (“Given enough provocation, I may hit another person”), anger (e.g. “I sometimes feel like a powder keg ready to explode”) and hostility (e.g. “I am suspicious of overly friendly strangers”).
Participants completed the Barrett Impulsivity Scale (BIS; ). As discussed above, although the BIS does not always show a sex difference, men score significantly higher than women on the BIS in the United States , and as such it was a pertinent measure for use in the current study. Participants reported on a 4 point Likert scale from Never/Rarely to Almost always/Always the frequency in which they engaged in a range of behaviours. Mean scores were calculated for the three ‘second order’ subscales: inattentiveness (e.g. “I often have extraneous thoughts when thinking”), motor impulsivity (e.g. “I do things without thinking”) and (lack of) planning (e.g. “I solve problems by trial and error”).
Fearfulness was assessed using the Fear Survey Schedule (FSS; ). The FSS was originally a clinical tool for identifying phobias, but has become a commonly used research tool in documenting both overall and specific fears in individuals. Participants reported on a 5 point scale from ‘not at all’ to ‘very much’, how much they were disturbed by a range of items such as loud voices, journeys by different modes of transport, tests, and being ignored. Mean scores were calculated for overall fearfulness (using all items), and for ‘blood’ fears (e.g. receiving injections, seeing blood) and ‘animal’ fears (e.g. worms, mice) which are higher in women than in men .
Sex role identity
The Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI; ) was used to assess levels of masculine and feminine sex role identity. The BSRI was developed in the United States to document variation in behaviours typically ascribed to men (masculinity) and women (femininity). Individuals can vary in the degree to which they exhibit traits in each scale independently; however, generally men have tended to score higher than women on masculinity and vice versa for femininity. Although over time so-called ‘masculine traits’ have become less exclusively male in participant self-reports, there still remains a sex difference in femininity scores in the US (, see also ), and we would anticipate likewise a sex difference in overall masculinity/femininity ratio. Participants rated how much ‘like me’ 60 personality characteristics were in 7 point Likert scales. From these, separate scores were calculated for masculine and feminine traits.
Participants reported the age in years at which they had their first menstrual period (menarche; female participants only), and first had sexual intercourse (first coitus).
Adjusting for age.
All variables were assessed to determine whether age had any effect on an individual’s scores. Because age is thought to relate nonlinearly to aggression in particular, peaking in the late teens and early twenties before declining again (e.g. ), variables were assessed using both linear and quadratic functions. No outcome measures were found to be significantly predicted by age (see text in S1 Text for details), so no variables are adjusted for age.
Principal components analysis on outcome measures.
We hypothesised that all our gender-related psychometric measures would load onto a single factor. To assess this hypothesis, all outcome variables were entered into a principal components analysis with loadings below 0.3 suppressed. No rotation was used as we were specifically looking for a single factor. In fact the analysis produced two main principal components, as shown in Table 2. Factor 1 consisted of all aggression subscales, all impulsivity subscales, and fear. It also had a negative loading for BSRI femininity. We conceptualise this factor as general reactivity–i.e. the propensity of the individual to behave impulsively and react to situations negatively (with aggression or fear). Factor 2 consists of higher physical and verbal aggression, higher scores on BSRI masculinity, and low fear (i.e. fearfulness loaded negatively onto the factor); as such it can be conceptualised as general masculinity since it encompasses variables which are known to be higher in males than females. As well as loading positively on factor 1, planning and attention impulsivity loaded negatively on factor 2 –we return to this in the discussion. Factor scores were then examined for sexual dimorphism and country differences using linear models. For reactivity, there was a significant effect of country, such that Australians were more reactive than Americans (β = -0.36, SE = 0.11, p < .001, partial η2 = 0.03), but no significant sex difference (β = 0.09, SE = 0.13, p = .46), or interaction between sex and country (β = -0.22, SE = 0.27, p = .41). For masculinity, there was a significant sex difference such that men scored higher than women (β = -0.33, SE = 0.12, p = .007, partial η2 = 0.02), and an effect of country such that masculinity was higher in the US than in Australia (β = 0.34, SE = 0.10, p < .001, partial η2 = 0.03), but no interaction (β = 0.16, SE = 0.26, p = .52).
Father absence and factor scores
We ran linear models with father absence and country as predictors of factor scores, for men and women separately. When women were classified as father present and father ever absent as the men were (see Table 3), there was a weak but significant effect of father absence, such that those who had ever experienced father absence were more reactive than those who remained father present (β = 0.29, SE = 0.14, p = .037, partial η2 = 0.01). However, when father-absent women were coded as father absent before or after 12, neither of these groups had significantly higher reactivity than the father present group (Father absent before 12: β = 0.31, SE = 0.18, p = .08; Father absent after 12: β = 0.27, SE = 0.20, p = .17).
(Reference category for Country is Australia).
When women were classified as father present and father ever absent as the men were, there was no significant effect of having ever experienced father absence on masculinity scores (β = 0.04, SE = 0.13, p = .77). When women were coded as either father absent before 12, father absent after 12, or never father absent, neither group had significantly higher masculinity than the father present group (Father absent before 12: β = 0.29, SE = 0.17, p = .08 Father absent after 12: β = -0.27, SE = 0.18, p = .14), but there was a significant interaction between country and father absence before 12 (β = -0.59, SE = 0.26, p = .03), which suggested that there might be a significant effect of father absence before 12 in one country but not the other. We therefore ran analyses separately for the US and Australia. In the US, the effect of father absence before 12 was clearly non-significant (β = -0.30, SE = 0.24, p = .21) and in the non-hypothesised direction (i.e. father-absent women were less masculine), whereas the effect in Australia of father absence before 12 was in the predicted direction (i.e. father-absent women were more masculine), although very small in size and with a two-tailed p-value of .06 (β = 0.29, SE = 0.16, p = .06, partial η2 = 0.02)
Australian men showed no significant effect of father absence for reactivity scores (β = 0.16, SE = 0.28, p = .57) or masculinity scores (β = 0.18, SE = 0.32, p = .58, see Table 4)
Ratings of parents and factor scores
Regression analyses were conducted separately with male and female participants, to assess the association between family relationship scores and both factor scores (see Table 5). Country (US vs Australia) and the interaction between country and family scores were added to these regression models. Overall, participant perceptions of parental marital quality were negatively related to reactivity scores, such that participants whose parents had a better quality relationship were less reactive; this was true for both male (β = -0.53, SE = 0.11, p < .001, partial η2 = 0.21) and female (β = -0.33, SE = 0.06, p < .001, partial η2 = 0.08) participants (see Table 5). There was no significant interaction between country and family relationship score for men (β = 0.26, SE = 0.28, p = .35) or women (β = 0.11, SE = 0.10, p = .35). Participant perceptions of parental marital quality did not significantly predict masculinity scores for men (β = 0.19, SE = 0.13, p = .15) or women (β = 0.05, SE = 0.06, p = .42).
(Reference category for Country is Australia).
Father absence did not significantly predict age of first coitus in Australian men (β = 0.53, SE = 0.67, p = .43, see Table 4). Women who were father absent before age 12 experienced first coitus significantly earlier than father present women in the United States (β = -1.50, SE = 0.40, p = < .001, partial η2 = 0.10; father absence pre-12: 15.5 years, father absent after 12 16.8 years, father present 17.0 years). This effect was not found in Australia (β = 0.28, SE = 0.45, p = .53, father absence pre-12: 17.0 years, father absent after 12 16.8 years, father present 16.7 years), and the significant interaction term for country (β = -1.78, SE = 0.60, p = .003) indicates that father absence before age 12 affects first coitus differently in these two samples. There was no evidence of an effect of father absence before age 12 on age at menarche in women (β = 0.10, SE = 0.25, p = .68), nor a significant interaction between country and father absence (see Table 3).
Regression revealed no significant associations between family ratings and age of first coitus in either sex (men: β = 0.29, SE = 0.32, p = .36; women: β = -0.04, SE = 0.17, p = .81), or menarche in women (β = -0.11, SE = 0.08, p = .19), except for an interaction term between family relationship scores and country in predicting age of first coitus in women: positive ratings of family relationships were associated with a higher age of first coitus in American women (β = 0.52, SE = 0.12, p = < .001, partial η2 = 0.07) but not Australian women (β = -0.04, SE = 0.16, p = .81).
Participants who were father absent before 12 (β = 0.44, SE = 0.08, p < .001, partial η2 = 0.05), but not those who were father absent after 12 (β = 0.08, SE = 0.11, p = .44), reported a significantly lower parental income than those who remained father present. Reporting a positive family relationship was also associated with a higher self-reported income (β = 0.36, SE = 0.05, p < .001, partial η2 = 0.08) However, there were no significant associations between income and any of our outcome measures (see text in S1 Text) and further analyses controlling for income (see text in S1 Text) produced results that were the same as those reported above.
The aim of the present research was to examine the behavioural and developmental correlates of childhood father absence in two similar Western countries, and establish whether these correlates could be explained as a general masculinisation of behaviour. Our principal components analysis indicated that this was not the case: two factors emerged, one of which did indeed show sex differences (but which also showed substantial country differences) and which was categorised as ‘masculinity’. The other factor, however, was not dimorphic and instead appeared to reflect ‘general reactivity’ (aggressiveness, fearfulness and impulsivity). Although father absence before age 18 in women was (weakly) associated with an increase in scores on reactivity, there was no link between father absence and ‘masculinity’ scores. Father-absent men were neither more reactive nor more masculine than father-present men. In both sexes, poor self-reported family relationships predicted higher reactivity scores, but were not associated with masculinity.
We found no evidence that father absence was associated with changes in the gendered behaviour (i.e. our ‘masculinity’ factor) of female participants, which is concordant with the results of Stephenson & Black’s  meta-analysis. Instead, father absence may predispose women to greater sensitivity to, and negative reactivity towards, the social environment in general. As such the data regarding elevated aggression in father-absent women/girls in the studies analysed by Stevenson & Black may in fact not be an index of behavioural masculinity (as Stevenson & Black’s meta-analysis categorises it) but may instead be due to this greater reactivity. This also suggests that, for girls at least, the differing results regarding the association between father absence and gender development in previous studies may be mixed because the studies are accessing psychological constructs other than gender itself. Our results are, however, consistent with more recent suggestions that elevated stress reactivity may be an adaptive response to early experiences of highly stressful conditions (see e.g. [73–75]). The association between poor quality family relationships and reactivity is particularly consistent with this hypothesis.
In young adult men, our results showed no association between father absence and ‘masculinity’, indexed by sex role identity, low fearfulness, and high aggression. This is not consistent with the evidence for physical masculinisation in father-absent men and with Stevenson and Black’s conclusions that behavioural measures at least showed a clear bias towards masculinity in father-absent males, nor with those studies which suggested that father absence was associated with a reduction in masculinity.
A point of incongruity within our data was the difference between results using father absence as the predictor versus ratings of family relationship quality. While differences in outcomes between father absent groups were weak, correlations with ratings of family quality were much more robust and, as mentioned above, the results for reactivity were consistent across the sexes. This would suggest either that family conflict results in changes in emotional development (i.e. an increase in reactivity), or that individuals who are more reactive in their late teens and twenties are more likely to view memories of their parents negatively. The fact that stronger results have been found using the subjective predictor variable (including the only link between reactivity and family background in men) than from the objective predictor variable would seem to suggest that recall biases might be influencing results. Alternatively, this analysis might suggests that poor quality parental relationships cause changes in development independent of any effects of father absence.
We found effects of childhood experiences on reproductive outcomes in our American participants that did not replicate in Australia. In American females, father absence before age 12 and negative ratings of family relationships were associated with age of first coitus. To our knowledge, this study includes the first evidence that family background variables may relate differently to behavioural and reproductive outcomes in young adulthood in these two countries. Caution should be taken with interpreting these interactions, however, particularly in light of the modest size of the American sample and the fact that there were too few father-absent American males for analysis. Furthermore, our preliminary data processing suggested that Australian participants scored higher on general reactivity than American participants, and lower on behavioural masculinity. It is possible that higher ‘baseline’ reactivity and masculinity in the US is what causes father absence to have an effect on reproductive outcome here but not in Australia. Future work should confirm the extent to which these differences are not an artefact of self-report.
A final point of note is that the relationship between aggression and fearfulness seems in the current sample to operate on two different bases–greater levels of physical aggression are indeed associated with lower levels of fear insofar as they both load on our factor of behavioural/psychological masculinity; this relationship may well be explained by underlying androgenisation and is concordant with the view of aggression posited by Campbell . However, all forms of aggressiveness simultaneously load on our reactivity factor such that those who have more fears are also more hostile, angry and verbally and physically aggressive; these same individuals also seem to be more behaviourally impulsive. These two simultaneous relationships between aggression and fearfulness amongst a sample of young adults is consistent with conceptualisations of aggression as having different types: instrumental aggression is negatively related to fear-related factors such as harm avoidance, is not characterised by particularly high levels of emotional arousal, and is more typical of men than of women; while expressive aggression is positively related to fear, associated with high levels of emotional arousal, and is not consistently higher in men than in women . Considering types of aggression may explain the sometimes differing findings regarding the relationship between aggression and fear, and between aggression and early life experience.
Important caveats in the current study include the fact that most of our participants were students (which may explain for instance why we found no effects of SES on outcome measures), and our reliance on self-report data. This is particularly pertinent considering our measure of fearfulness: while it is a standard measure of fears in self-report tests, it was not intended as a measure of trait fearfulness. New measures such as the Situated Fear Questionnaire  may prove useful for this type of work in the future. Related to this, although the Barrett Impulsivity Scale is one of the primary self-report methods for assessing impulsivity, it does not show reliable sex differences in all samples (see e.g.  for meta-analysis) and may thus have failed to tap into the precise construct we were aiming to test (while still being clearly relevant to family background as our results show). Finally, our family data were entirely retrospective child-reports; longitudinal, third-party assessments of family relationships would allow for a better test of whether the marital relationship itself is critical in the development of these outcomes, or father absence specifically.
A final caveat concerns the age cut-offs we used. While considerable attention has been given to the ‘effects’ of father absence prior to 5–7 years, we selected a cut-off of age 12 for these family recall questions in order to give a realistically accessible window of memory for participants (i.e. the time roughly before they started high school). We likewise used 12 as a cut-off for our father absence analyses in women to be concordant with that. Unsurprisingly, women who were father absent between the ages of 12 and 18 do not appear to differ in reproductive outcomes from women who were never father absent–father absence having probably occurred too late to influence the onset of menarche, for example. However, when we compared ever father absent with never father absent groups (initially a response to having insufficient data from men for a finer-grained analysis), we found effects of this variable on reactivity in adulthood. This suggests that father absence might have effects on offspring more generally even when it occurs too late to influence pubertal development. Alternatively, people who are generally reactive might be more likely to have parents who separate for other reasons.
Our study revealed a relatively consistent picture of the effects of father absence in young women: women who were ever father absent showed slightly higher reactivity—but not higher masculinity—than women who remained father present until leaving home. This effect was not moderated by country. Women who were father absent before 12 also experienced earlier first coitus than father present women, but only in the US. A poorer quality of parental relationship, as assessed by subjective recall, was also associated with elevated reactivity in women, irrespective of country. These results suggest that father absence–and, more broadly, a stressful childhood or adolescence–result in a general increase in reactive behaviour in women, but not with ‘masculinisation’ of behaviour. For men the picture was less clear, partly because we did not have enough father absent men from the US for analysis. In Australia, however, father absence was not associated with increased ‘masculinity’ scores, increased reactivity, or earlier first coitus. Poor parental relationship quality was associated with increased reactivity in men, however, as it was in women. While our results illustrate the need for further cross-cultural research on the effects of father absence with large, representative samples–particularly of men—our results from women suggest that previous mixed reports of father absence in girls causing greater ‘masculinity’ might be attributable to greater reactivity being construed as masculinisation.
S1 Text. Questionnaire items and further analysis of age and income variables.
S2 Text. Analysis code (RMarkdown).
S3 Text. Raw data file.
S4 Text. Notes on data file.
LGB was supported during data collection and initial drafting of the manuscript by the Economic and Social Research Council (PTA-026-27-0475).
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domain: psychology


text:
We’ve been hard at work, see industry insights, our accomplishments with our partners to provide organizations a standard in sustainable practices.
Truterra® sustainability programs are designed to meet farmers where they are in their sustainability journey.
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Anna Pierce — Director of Sustainability, Tate & Lyle
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Minimally invasive devices that can bend and stretch in all directions—that is, seamlessly move with the body—are a compelling component of future biomedical applications. Now that future is closer to reality, thanks to the work of scientists at the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). They have demonstrated for the first time a light-emitting device that is “intrinsically stretchable”—meaning every part of the device can be stretched: The metal-free devices can be linearly stretched up to 45%, and the composite electrodes can be reversibly stretched even more—up to 50%—with little change in sheet resistance.1
The researchers developed a simple process to fabricate the transparent devices using single-walled carbon nanotube polymer composite electrode. The process involves roll lamination of two composite electrodes that sandwich an emissive polymer layer. Together, the interwoven networks of nanotubes and the polymer matrix in the surface layer of the composites enable low surface roughness along with high transparency and compliance.
1. Z. Yu et al., Adv. Mat., doi: 10.1002/adma.201101986 (2011).


text:
Happy birthday to the one and only Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart! Yes, today we celebrate the birth of one of the greatest composers to ever grace the classical music world.
Born on January 27, 1756, in Salzburg, Austria, Mozart was a musical prodigy from the get-go. He started composing at the ripe old age of 5 (because apparently, toddlers aren’t busy enough already) and by the time he was 17, he had already composed over 50 works and traveled all over Europe, performing for fancy royalty and aristocrats.
Mozart’s compositions cover a wide range of genres, from symphonies and operas to chamber music and solo piano works. Some of his most famous works include “The Marriage of Figaro,” “Don Giovanni,” and “The Magic Flute,” as well as the oh-so-dramatic Symphony No. 40 in G Minor.
Unfortunately, despite all his successes, Mozart struggled financially throughout much of his life. He left this world far too soon at the young age of 35, leaving behind a legacy of over 600 compositions that have had a major impact on classical music.
Today, Mozart’s music is enjoyed by people all over the globe, and he is widely considered one of the greatest composers in history. His works are regularly performed in concert halls and opera houses around the world, and his music continues to inspire and delight listeners of all ages.
So here’s to you, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart! Happy birthday, and thank you for all the beautiful music you’ve given us.

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