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Effects of Harsh and Unpredictable Environments in Adolescence on Development of Life History Strategies

A Longitudinal Test of an Evolutionary Model

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Abstract

The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health data were used to test predictions from life history theory. We hypothesized that (1) in young adulthood an emerging life history strategy would exist as a common factor underlying many life history traits (e.g., health, relationship stability, economic success), (2) both environmental harshness and unpredictability would account for unique variance in expression of adolescent and young adult life history strategies, and (3) adolescent life history traits would predict young adult life history strategy. These predictions were supported. The current findings suggest that the environmental parameters of harshness and unpredictability have concurrent effects on life history development in adolescence, as well as longitudinal effects into young adulthood. In addition, life history traits appear to be stable across developmental time from adolescence into young adulthood.

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Notes

  1. All Cronbach’s alphas and bivariate correlations used proc corr. Exploratory factor analyses used proc factor, with initial communality estimates using squared multiple correlations and principal axis estimation. Scree tests and proportions of variance accounted for determined the optimal number of factors to be retained. Confirmatory factor analyses and Structural Equation Modeling used proc calis.

  2. An item was coded as missing data when participants left an item blank, refused to answer a question, had a legitimate skip, did not know the answer, or the question was not applicable. Some items were constructed so that certain responses led respondents to skip over a set of questions, thus leading to systematically missing data. When theoretically appropriate, this problem was addressed for questions conducive to logical imputation of scores. When questions were phrased in both a positive and negative direction, items were reversed so that a high score on one item was theoretically consistent with a high score on another item. Of the items selected, scores varied in metric; for example, items were formatted as yes/no questions, Likert scale rating, and years engaged in a particular activity. Consequently, it was necessary to standardize the items prior to creating scales or examining internal consistency. By standardizing each item, one can compare scores across items that originally had disparate scores. Items that were internally consistent were used for the construction of scales. Each scale was calculated by taking the mean of the standardized items that had previously met the Cronbach’s alpha criteria.

  3. Another common example and an emergent construct is socioeconomic status (SES). Indicators such as income and education are thought to cause SES rather than SES causing income and education (Kline 2006).

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Acknowledgments

This research is based on Brumbach’s dissertation, which was submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a degree at the University of Arizona. The research uses data from Add Health, a program project designed by J. Richard Udry, Peter S. Bearman, and Kathleen Mullan Harris, and funded by a grant P01-HD31921 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, with cooperative funding from 17 other agencies. Special acknowledgment is due Ronald R. Rindfuss and Barbara Entwisle for assistance in the original design. Persons interested in obtaining data files from Add Health should contact the Carolina Population Center, 123 W. Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27516-2524 (addhealth@unc.edu).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Northern Arizona University, P. O. Box 15106, Flagstaff, AZ, 86011-5036, USA

    Barbara Hagenah Brumbach

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Aurelio José Figueredo

  3. John & Doris Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Bruce J. Ellis

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  1. Barbara Hagenah Brumbach
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Correspondence to Barbara Hagenah Brumbach.

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Brumbach, B.H., Figueredo, A.J. & Ellis, B.J. Effects of Harsh and Unpredictable Environments in Adolescence on Development of Life History Strategies. Hum Nat 20, 25–51 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-009-9059-3

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