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The effects of age at menarche and first sexual intercourse on reproductive and behavioural outcomes:A Mendelian randomization study
- Source :
- Lawn, R B, Sallis, H M, Wootton, R E, Taylor, A E, Demange, P, Fraser, A, Penton-Voak, I S & Munafò, M R 2020, ' The effects of age at menarche and first sexual intercourse on reproductive and behavioural outcomes : A Mendelian randomization study ', PLoS ONE, vol. 15, no. 6, e0234488 . https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0234488, PLoS ONE, Vol 15, Iss 6, p e0234488 (2020), PLoS ONE, Lawn, R B, Sallis, H M, Wootton, R E, Taylor, A E, Demange, P, Fraser, A, Penton-Voak, I S & Munafò, M R 2020, ' The effects of age at menarche and first sexual intercourse on reproductive and behavioural outcomes : A Mendelian randomization study ', PLoS ONE, vol. 15, no. 6, e0234488, pp. e0234488 . https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0234488, PLoS ONE, 15(6):e0234488. Public Library of Science
- Publication Year :
- 2020
-
Abstract
- SummaryThere is substantial variation in the timing of significant reproductive life events such as menarche and first sexual intercourse. Life history theory explains this variation as an adaptive response to the developmental environment. In environments characterized by harsh conditions, adopting a fast life history strategy may increase fitness. In line with this, there is evidence demonstrating that greater childhood adversity is associated with earlier age at menarche. Here we applied Mendelian randomization (MR) methods to investigate whether there is a causal effect of variation in age at menarche and age at first sexual intercourse on outcomes related to reproduction, education and risky behaviour in UK Biobank (N = 114883–181,255). Our results suggest that earlier age at menarche affects some traits that characterize life history strategies including earlier age at first and last birth, decreased educational attainment, and decreased age at leaving education (for example, we found evidence for a 0.26 year decrease in age at first birth per year decrease in age at menarche, 95% confidence interval: −0.34 to −0.17; p < 0.0001). We find no clear evidence of effects of age at menarche on other outcomes, such as risk taking behaviour. Age at first sexual intercourse was also related to many life history outcomes, although there was evidence of horizontal pleiotropy which violates an assumption of MR and results should be treated with caution. Taken together, these results highlight how MR can be applied to test predictions of life history theory and to better understand determinants of health and social behaviour.
- Subjects :
- Male
Physiology
Social Sciences
Families
0302 clinical medicine
Endocrinology
Mathematical and Statistical Techniques
Sociology
Reproductive Physiology
Pregnancy
Copulation
Medicine and Health Sciences
Psychology
030212 general & internal medicine
Children
Life History Traits
media_common
0303 health sciences
Multidisciplinary
Alcohol Consumption
Reproduction
Statistics
Age Factors
Coitus
Genomics
Metaanalysis
Middle Aged
Causality
Physical Sciences
Menarche
Educational Status
Medicine
Female
Research Article
media_common.quotation_subject
Science
Affect (psychology)
Research and Analysis Methods
Life history theory
Education
03 medical and health sciences
Risk-Taking
Mendelian randomization
medicine
Genome-Wide Association Studies
Genetics
Humans
Social determinants of health
Statistical Methods
Menstrual Cycle
Educational Attainment
030304 developmental biology
Nutrition
Behavior
Endocrine Physiology
Biology and Life Sciences
Computational Biology
Human Genetics
Mendelian Randomization Analysis
medicine.disease
Genome Analysis
Confidence interval
Educational attainment
United Kingdom
Diet
Sexual intercourse
Age Groups
People and Places
Population Groupings
Mathematics
Demography
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 19326203
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Lawn, R B, Sallis, H M, Wootton, R E, Taylor, A E, Demange, P, Fraser, A, Penton-Voak, I S & Munafò, M R 2020, ' The effects of age at menarche and first sexual intercourse on reproductive and behavioural outcomes : A Mendelian randomization study ', PLoS ONE, vol. 15, no. 6, e0234488 . https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0234488, PLoS ONE, Vol 15, Iss 6, p e0234488 (2020), PLoS ONE, Lawn, R B, Sallis, H M, Wootton, R E, Taylor, A E, Demange, P, Fraser, A, Penton-Voak, I S & Munafò, M R 2020, ' The effects of age at menarche and first sexual intercourse on reproductive and behavioural outcomes : A Mendelian randomization study ', PLoS ONE, vol. 15, no. 6, e0234488, pp. e0234488 . https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0234488, PLoS ONE, 15(6):e0234488. Public Library of Science
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....dbba5636a344aac924fc2f3a36516c73