Are the early childhood antecedents of men’s external locus of control similar to those of their female partners?

Background: The concept of locus of control of reinforcement was introduced by Julian Rotter and has been the focus of intense research for nearly half a century. Surprisingly little research has been directed at clarifying antecedents of locus of control (LOC) orientations in adult men apart from a few small studies. We previously identified a number of independent antecedents associated with women’s LOC, including features of their parents and early childhood. This raised the question as to whether these factors were also associated with the development of LOC in men. Methods: To identify antecedents of LOC orientations in a representative population of women we previously analysed information concerning characteristics of their parents and their own childhood experiences using pregnant women taking part in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). Here we use the same design to determine whether their male partners have similar antecedents of LOC orientation. As previously, we use a hypothesis-free exposome technique using all available information on the parents and childhood of the individuals. Results: We show that men had many of the same antecedent characteristics as the women – in particular, their mother’s year of birth and father’s social group, being exposed to cigarette smoke prenatally, starting to smoke regularly before the age of 11, and having a friend die were all associated with being external. Associations of internality common to both were warm maternal care, being breast fed, being born in an area other than that where they currently live, attending boarding school and having a parent admitted to hospital. Conclusions: In general, the antecedents of male external and internal personalities have many similarities to those of women, thus providing some features to inform the possible theoretical background as to how LOC might develop over time.

The Importance of Childhood for Adult Health and Development—Study Protocol of the Zurich Longitudinal Studies

Evidence is accumulating that individual and environmental factors in childhood and adolescence should be considered when investigating adult health and aging-related processes. The data required for this is gathered by comprehensive long-term longitudinal studies. This article describes the protocol of the Zurich Longitudinal Studies (ZLS), a set of three comprehensive cohort studies on child growth, health, and development that are currently expanding into adulthood. Between 1954 and 1961, 445 healthy infants were enrolled in the first ZLS cohort. Their physical, motor, cognitive, and social development and their environment were assessed comprehensively across childhood, adolescence, and into young adulthood. In the 1970s, two further cohorts were added to the ZLS and assessed with largely matched study protocols: Between 1974 and 1979, the second ZLS cohort included 265 infants (103 term-born and 162 preterm infants), and between 1970 and 2002, the third ZLS cohort included 327 children of participants of the first ZLS cohort. Since 2019, the participants of the three ZLS cohorts have been traced and invited to participate in a first wave of assessments in adulthood to investigate their current health and development. This article describes the ZLS study protocol and discusses opportunities, methodological and conceptual challenges, and limitations arising from a long-term longitudinal cohort recruited from a study about development in early life. In the future, the ZLS will provide data to investigate childhood antecedents of adult health outcomes and, ultimately, will help respond to the frequent call of scientists to shift the focus of aging research into the first decades of life and, thus, to take a lifespan perspective on aging.

Early Childhood Antecedents of Dehumanization Perpetration in Adult Romantic Relationships

Data from the Minnesota Longitudinal Study of Risk and Adaptation (MLSRA) were utilized to provide the first investigation into the early childhood antecedents of dehumanization (i.e., treating another as less than human) in adult romantic relationships. Drawing on a sample of 109 MLSRA participants, multiple assessments of maternal care and empathy were collected during infancy and early childhood. In adulthood, MLSRA participants and their romantic partners engaged in video recorded conflict discussions in which dehumanization perpetration was coded. Maternal hostility was a significant and unique predictor of dehumanization perpetration. This longitudinal association remained even when controlling for the partner’s displays of dehumanization and several demographic covariates. This study provides the first evidence of early childhood antecedents of dehumanization and highlights how experiences during the first few years of life can have enduring downstream consequences for people’s romantic relationships 20–30 years later.

Are the early childhood antecedents of men’s external locus of control similar to those of their female partners?

Background: The concept of locus of control of reinforcement was introduced by Julian Rotter and has been the focus of intense research for nearly half a century. Surprisingly little research has been directed at clarifying antecedents of locus of control (LOC) orientations in adult men apart from a few small studies. We previously identified a number of independent antecedents associated with women’s LOC, including features of their parents and early childhood. This raised the question as to whether these factors were also associated with the development of LOC in men. Methods: To identify antecedents of LOC orientations in a representative population of women we previously analysed information concerning characteristics of their parents and their own childhood experiences using pregnant women taking part in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). Here we use the same design to determine whether their male partners have similar antecedents of LOC orientation. As previously, we use a hypothesis-free exposome technique using all available information on the parents and childhood of the individuals. Results: We show that men had many of the same antecedent characteristics as the women – in particular, their mother’s year of birth and father’s social group, being exposed to cigarette smoke prenatally, starting to smoke regularly before the age of 11, and having a friend die were all associated with being external. Associations of internality common to both were warm maternal care, being breast fed, being born in an area other than that where they currently live, attending boarding school and having a parent admitted to hospital. Conclusions: In general, the antecedents of male external and internal personalities have many similarities to those of women, thus providing some features to inform the possible theoretical background as to how LOC might develop over time.