The Behavioural Ecology of Modern Families: A Longitudinal Study of Parental Investment and Child Development

Lead Research Organisation: London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Department Name: Epidemiology and Population Health

Abstract

Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.

Publications

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Gibson M (2011) "Modernization" increases parental investment and sibling resource competition: evidence from a rural development initiative in Ethiopia in Evolution and Human Behavior

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Lawson DW (2010) Siblings and childhood mental health: evidence for a later-born advantage. in Social science & medicine (1982)

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Lawson DW (2010) Optimizing Modern Family Size: Trade-offs between Fertility and the Economic Costs of Reproduction. in Human nature (Hawthorne, N.Y.)

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Lawson DW (2011) Parental investment and the optimization of human family size. in Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences

 
Description Four publications were produced:

2011 Lawson, D.W. & Mace R. Parental investment and the optimization of human family size. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 366, 333-343.

2011 Gibson, M.A. & Lawson, D.W. 'Modernization' increases parental investment and sibling resource competition: evidence from a rural development initiative in Ethiopia. Evolution & Human Behavior 32, 97-105

2010 Lawson, D.W. & Mace, R. Siblings and childhood mental health: evidence for a later-born advantage. Social Science and Medicine 70, 2061-2069.

2010 Lawson, D.W. & Mace, R. Optimizing modern family size: trade-offs between fertility and the economic costs of reproduction. Human Nature 21, 39-61.
Exploitation Route This research considered the implications of family structure for child development and may therefore be useful for identifying child at risk and reducing vulnerabilities. It also sought to provide insight into why fertility rates fall with economic development, which is relevant to population policy.
Sectors Healthcare
 
Description This was a one year fellowship used to prepare four publications stemming initially from my ESRC funded PhD, and to undergo additional training in demography. The papers have been well cited, but I have no knowledge of their wider non-academic impact. The fellowship was also used to prepare grant applications - ultimately leading to an awarded Leverhulme Trust Fellowship.