Parenting and community background and variation in women's life-history development.

For a community sample of 623 low-income women (mean age = 26.9 years), the authors use life-history theory to explore relations between parenting and community background and timing of reproductive development and sexual behaviors. Among other patterns, reported levels of paternal involvement during childhood were related to delayed menarche and ages at 1st sexual intercourse and 1st childbirth. The relation between parental investment and women's reproductive delay varied with estimates of wealth in the community in which the participants grew up. The results suggest that parents increased their investment as the level of community wealth increased, and in ways that likely facilitated women's ability to compete for social status in adulthood. Implications for future research on the relation between parenting and child outcomes are discussed.