Variation in grandmaternal investment in Ukraine

IF 1.6 4区医学 Q1 ANTHROPOLOGY

American Journal of Human Biology Pub Date : 2024-07-04 DOI:10.1002/ajhb.24128

Sofiya Shreyer

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

Grandmothers vary in their contributions to grandchildren based on their relatedness and the sex of the child. Maternal grandmothers decrease grandchildren's risk of mortality and increase grandchildren's health more significantly than paternal grandmothers, but limited evidence suggests that paternal grandmothers may invest more in female than male grandchildren.

Aims

In this study, I test whether contact frequency between grandmothers and grandchildren is influenced by their relatedness (maternal vs paternal) or the sex of the child. This research was carried out in Ukraine because it is neither matrilocal nor patrilocal, and Ukrainian grandmothers are known to provide a high rate of childcare.

Methods

This study included interviews with 60 grandmothers that asked about contact frequency with grandchildren, relatedness (maternal or paternal), and contact frequency between the grandchild and the other grandmother. A dataset generated for each grandchild (n = 128) included sex, age, and contact frequency with both maternal and paternal grandmothers. Linear mixed models were fit to the data to explore the relationship between grandmother relatedness and contact frequency.

Results

On average, maternal grandmothers saw their grandchildren 173.8 days/year, while paternal grandmothers saw their grandchildren 87.5 days/year (p < 0.001). The sex of the child was not a significant factor in determining contact frequency.

Conclusion

In Ukraine, maternal grandmothers have more frequent contact with their grandchildren. This finding supports the idea that grandmaternal investment is an evolutionarily adaptive strategy. However, the bias towards maternal grandmothers may also be explained by a post-socialist cultural context, which necessitates grandmaternal care.

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乌克兰祖母投资的差异。

背景：祖母对孙辈的贡献因亲缘关系和子女性别而异。与父系祖母相比，母系祖母能更显著地降低孙辈的死亡风险并提高孙辈的健康水平，但有限的证据表明，父系祖母对女性孙辈的投入可能多于男性孙辈。这项研究在乌克兰进行，因为乌克兰既不是母系地方，也不是父系地方，而且众所周知，乌克兰祖母的育儿率很高：这项研究包括对 60 位祖母进行访谈，询问她们与孙辈的接触频率、亲缘关系（母系或父系）以及孙辈与另一位祖母的接触频率。为每个孙辈（n = 128）生成的数据集包括性别、年龄以及与祖母和外祖母的接触频率。对数据进行线性混合模型拟合，以探讨祖母亲缘关系与接触频率之间的关系：结果：外祖母平均每年有 173.8 天与孙辈见面，而祖母平均每年有 87.5 天与孙辈见面（p）：在乌克兰，外祖母与孙辈的接触更为频繁。这一发现支持了祖母投资是一种进化适应策略的观点。然而，后社会主义文化背景也可以解释这种对外祖母的偏爱，因为这种文化背景需要外祖母的照顾。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

American Journal of Human Biology 生物-生物学

CiteScore

4.80

自引率

13.80%

发文量

124

审稿时长

4-8 weeks

期刊介绍： The American Journal of Human Biology is the Official Journal of the Human Biology Association. The American Journal of Human Biology is a bimonthly, peer-reviewed, internationally circulated journal that publishes reports of original research, theoretical articles and timely reviews, and brief communications in the interdisciplinary field of human biology. As the official journal of the Human Biology Association, the Journal also publishes abstracts of research presented at its annual scientific meeting and book reviews relevant to the field. The Journal seeks scholarly manuscripts that address all aspects of human biology, health, and disease, particularly those that stress comparative, developmental, ecological, or evolutionary perspectives. The transdisciplinary areas covered in the Journal include, but are not limited to, epidemiology, genetic variation, population biology and demography, physiology, anatomy, nutrition, growth and aging, physical performance, physical activity and fitness, ecology, and evolution, along with their interactions. The Journal publishes basic, applied, and methodologically oriented research from all areas, including measurement, analytical techniques and strategies, and computer applications in human biology. Like many other biologically oriented disciplines, the field of human biology has undergone considerable growth and diversification in recent years, and the expansion of the aims and scope of the Journal is a reflection of this growth and membership diversification. The Journal is committed to prompt review, and priority publication is given to manuscripts with novel or timely findings, and to manuscripts of unusual interest.