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TL;DR
This meta-analysis of 33 studies found a small but significant positive correlation between biological father absence and earlier age at menarche in daughters, supporting a life history theory prediction.
Evolutionary Psychology · 5 authors, 5 centres
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This meta-analysis of 33 studies found a small but significant positive correlation between biological father absence and earlier age at menarche in daughters, supporting a life history theory prediction.
This study is a random-effects meta-analysis synthesizing data from 33 human studies (N = 70,403) to test the hypothesis that biological father absence is associated with daughters' earlier age at menarche, as predicted by life history theory. The weighted mean correlation was .14, indicating a small-to-moderate effect size. The analysis found no significant evidence of publication bias, nor did outcome measure type or study year moderate the effect size. However, effect sizes showed significant heterogeneity. The authors conclude that the findings support one aspect of psychosocial acceleration theory, but note that the correlational nature of the evidence precludes causal inference. Limitations include unmeasured variables that may explain the heterogeneity and a narrow focus that does not address broader mediating factors like socioeconomic status or individual genetic differences.