Were fewer boys born in the United States during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic? A test of the Trivers–Willard hypothesis

IF 4.6 2区社会学 Q1 ANTHROPOLOGY

Evolutionary Anthropology Pub Date : 2024-07-25 DOI:10.1002/evan.22043

Peyton Cleaver, Amy L. Non

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Abstract

The Trivers–Willard hypothesis predicts that mammalian parents in poor environmental conditions will favor the offspring sex with more reliable chance of reproductive success, which in humans is females. Three months following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa, England, and Wales, there were significant decreases in the sex ratio at birth (SRB) (male births/total live births). We analyzed this ratio with a seasonal autoregressive moving average model, and a logistic regression, using nationwide natality data for all singleton births in the United States from 2015 to 2021 (n = 25,201,620 total births). We identified no significant change in the sex ratio in either analysis. Rather, we observed marked differences in the sex ratio by maternal characteristics of race/ethnicity, age, and education, with more vulnerable groups having lower sex ratios. These findings suggest the SRB may be an important marker of reproductive vulnerability for disadvantaged groups in the United States.

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在 COVID-19 大流行的最初几个月，在美国出生的男孩是否较少？对特里弗斯-威拉德假说的检验。

根据 Trivers-Willard 假说的预测，哺乳动物的父母在恶劣的环境条件下会倾向于选择生殖成功几率更大的后代性别，而人类的后代性别是女性。COVID-19 在南非、英格兰和威尔士流行三个月后，出生性别比（SRB）（男婴出生率/活产总数）显著下降。我们利用美国 2015 年至 2021 年所有单胎新生儿的全国出生数据（n = 25,201,620 个总出生数），采用季节性自回归移动平均模型和逻辑回归分析了这一比率。在这两项分析中，我们均未发现性别比有明显变化。相反，我们观察到不同种族/族裔、年龄和教育程度的产妇特征在性别比率上存在明显差异，更脆弱的群体性别比率更低。这些发现表明，SRB 可能是美国弱势群体生殖脆弱性的一个重要标志。

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来源期刊

Evolutionary Anthropology ANTHROPOLOGY-

CiteScore

7.00

自引率

5.40%

发文量

期刊介绍： Evolutionary Anthropology is an authoritative review journal that focuses on issues of current interest in biological anthropology, paleoanthropology, archaeology, functional morphology, social biology, and bone biology — including dentition and osteology — as well as human biology, genetics, and ecology. In addition to lively, well-illustrated articles reviewing contemporary research efforts, this journal also publishes general news of relevant developments in the scientific, social, or political arenas. Reviews of noteworthy new books are also included, as are letters to the editor and listings of various conferences. The journal provides a valuable source of current information for classroom teaching and research activities in evolutionary anthropology.