| Selection against small males in utero: a test of the Wells hypothesis. | |
| | |
MedLine Citation:
|
PMID: 22298840 Owner: NLM Status: MEDLINE |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
|
BACKGROUND: The argument that women in stressful environments spontaneously abort their least fit fetuses enjoys wide dissemination despite the fact that several of its most intuitive predictions remain untested. The literature includes no tests, for example, of the hypothesis that these mechanisms select against small for gestational age (SGA) males. METHODS: We apply time-series modeling to 4.9 million California male term births to test the hypothesis that the rate of SGA infants in 1096 weekly birth cohorts varies inversely with labor market contraction, a known stressor of contemporary populations. RESULTS: We find support for the hypothesis that small size becomes less frequent among term male infants when the labor market contracts. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings contribute to the evidence supporting selection in utero. They also suggest that research into the association between maternal stress and adverse birth outcomes should acknowledge the possibility that fetal loss may affect findings and their interpretation. Strengths of our analyses include the large number and size of our birth cohorts and our control for autocorrelation. Weaknesses include that we, like nearly all researchers in the field, have no direct measure of fetal loss. |
| | |
Authors:
|
R Catalano; J Goodman; C E Margerison-Zilko; K B Saxton; E Anderson; M Epstein |
Publication Detail:
|
Type: Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Date: 2012-02-01 |
Journal Detail:
|
Title: Human reproduction (Oxford, England) Volume: 27 ISSN: 1460-2350 ISO Abbreviation: Hum. Reprod. Publication Date: 2012 Apr |
Date Detail:
|
Created Date: 2012-03-15 Completed Date: 2013-01-09 Revised Date: 2013-04-01 |
Medline Journal Info:
|
Nlm Unique ID: 8701199 Medline TA: Hum Reprod Country: England |
Other Details:
|
Languages: eng Pagination: 1202-8 Citation Subset: IM |
Affiliation:
|
School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. rayc@berkeley.edu |
Export Citation:
|
APA/MLA Format Download EndNote Download BibTex |
| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
|
Abortion, Spontaneous
/
epidemiology* Birth Weight California / epidemiology Cohort Studies Economics* Employment / psychology Female Humans Infant, Newborn Infant, Small for Gestational Age* Male Models, Biological Pregnancy Pregnancy Outcome Selection, Genetic Socioeconomic Factors Stress, Psychological* |
| Grant Support | |
ID/Acronym/Agency:
|
HD07275/HD/NICHD NIH HHS |
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
Previous Document: A short exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls deregulates cellular autophagy in mammalian blastocyst...
Next Document: Cognitive and metabolic correlates of emotional vulnerability in patients with temporal lobe epileps...