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Parental Quality (parental + quality)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Life Sciences	78%
Medical Sciences	14%

Selected Abstracts

How Consistently are Good Parents Good Parents?

ETHOLOGY, Issue 4 2003
Passer domesticus, Repeatability of Parental Care in the House Sparrow
In many avian species, substantial individual variation occurs in parental food-provisioning levels, which often is assumed to reflect variation in parental quality. Parental quality also has often been invoked as a key element in mate choice among biparental species, and many sexually-selected traits have been investigated as potential predictors of parental quality. In recent studies of house sparrow (Passer domesticus) parents, we found that individuals behaved remarkably consistently across time, regardless of temporary manipulations of the nestling provisioning of their partners. This suggests that variation in parental competence may be attributable to quality differences among individuals. One prediction of the ,parental quality differences' hypothesis is that individuals also should show consistency in their provisioning behavior across broods. To test this, we compared the parental delivery rates of individual house sparrows across broods. Parents of both sexes reduced their per-chick delivery rates as the season progressed; parents of both sexes were also responsive to changes in their brood sizes. Despite these sources of environmental variation in provisioning rates, the parental care of individual males was highly repeatable across broods. By contrast, female parental care showed extremely low repeatability, and standardized measures of among-individual variation in parental behavior revealed females to be much less variable than males. These results indicate that females in this multi-brooded species have much to gain from mate-choice decisions predicated on male parental quality or accurate indicators of such, whereas males are less likely to profit from being highly selective about the ,parental quality' of their partners. [source]

Do Peer Groups Matter?

ECONOMICA, Issue 277 2003
Peer Group versus Schooling Effects on Academic Attainment
This paper estimates an educational production function. Educational attainment is a function of peer group, parental input and schooling. Conventional measures of school quality are not good predictors for academic attainment, once we control for peer group effects; parental qualities also have strong effects on academic attainment. This academic attainment is a then a key determinant of subsequent labour market success, as measured by earnings. The main methodological innovation in this paper is the nomination of a set of instruments, very broad regions of birth, which, as a whole, pass close scrutiny for validity and permit unbiased estimation of the production function. [source]

Female and male plumage brightness correlate with nesting failure in azure-winged magpies Cyanopica cyanus

JOURNAL OF AVIAN BIOLOGY, Issue 2 2008
Jesús M. Avilés
Animals may assess the quality of other individuals by using information that is contained in elaborate traits. We investigated the degree of sexual dimorphism in structural blue plumage coloration and the potential signal value of these traits in the azure-winged magpie Cyanopica cyanus. We predicted that in this species blue coloration should signal individual quality in both sexes since both females and males invest significantly in caring for offspring. Males have more saturated UV/blue coloration than females and blueness decreased from moulting to reproduction. Males and females did not mate assortatively for blue coloration although they did in relation to body size and condition. Blue colour did not correlate with adult body size or condition. However, nest predation decreased with female and male brightness. Our results suggest that blue coloration may potentially be used to assess parental qualities by potential mates in both sexes of the azure-winged magpie. [source]

How Consistently are Good Parents Good Parents?

Rearing conditions determine offspring survival independent of egg quality: a cross-foster experiment with Oystercatchers Haematopus ostralegus

IBIS, Issue 2 2006
MARTIJN VAN DE POL
Variation in rearing conditions, due either to parental or to environmental quality, can result in offspring of different quality (e.g. body condition, immune function). However, evidence is accumulating that egg size and composition can also affect offspring quality. In Oystercatchers Haematopus ostralegus, high-quality rearing conditions result in a higher quantity as well as quality of offspring. This is thought to be caused by increased parental food provisioning to the chicks in high-quality environments. However, variation in egg quality between rearing conditions could also affect the quantity and quality of offspring. Determining the mechanism and ontogeny of quality differences is important in unravelling the causes of variation in reproductive success. To disentangle the effects of egg quality, and quality of the rearing conditions, on the future survival of offspring, we cross-fostered complete clutches between nests. When reared under conditions of similar environmental quality, chicks originating from eggs laid in low-quality environments survived as well as chicks originating from eggs laid in a high-quality environment. However, chicks reared in high-quality environments survived twice as long as chicks reared in low-quality environments, independent of the environmental quality in which the eggs were laid. This suggests that variation in the future survival of offspring is primarily caused by differences in environmental and/or parental quality, with no clear effect of egg quality (size). [source]

Parents of Adults with Intellectual Disabilities: Quality of Life and Experiences of Caring

JOURNAL OF APPLIED RESEARCH IN INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES, Issue 2 2000
Sarah Walden
This study examined a UK sample of parents caring for their adult offspring with intellectual disabilities, and the factors contributing to their quality of life and experiences of caregiving. Structured interviews were conducted with 62 parents of adults with intellectual disabilities. On several indices of quality of life, parents did not seem to be functioning as well as caregiving parents in the US, or as well as adults in the general US population. The offspring's level of challenging behaviour and physical dependency and the parent's satisfaction with informal support were associated with parental quality of life. The salience that parents placed on their post-parental life style was also associated with quality of life, with ,captive' parents faring more poorly than ,captivated' parents. [source]

Relative influence of male and female care in determining nestling mass in a migratory songbird

JOURNAL OF AVIAN BIOLOGY, Issue 5 2010
Kirk W. Stodola
Biparental care is common in birds, with the allocation of effort being highly variable between the sexes. In most songbird species, the female typically provides the most care early in the breeding cycle with both parents providing care when provisioning young. Food provisioning should be directly related to offspring quality; however, the relative influence each parent has on offspring quality has rarely been assessed at the nest level. Consequently, we were interested in assessing the relative influence male and female provisioning has on one measurement of offspring quality, nestling mass, in the black-throated blue warbler Dendroica caerulescens. Over a six year period, 2003,2008, we collected information on average nestling mass per brood on day 6 of the nestling cycle and parental provisioning rates on day 7 of the nestling cycle from 182 first brood nests on three different study plots. We found that average nestling mass was directly related to male provisioning rate, while it was not related to female provisioning rate. On the other hand, estimated biomass provisioned had little influence on average nestling mass, calling into question its utility in assessing parental quality. Finally, there was some indication that parental influence on average nestling mass was dependent on the other parent's provisioning rate, suggesting that parents work in concert to influence nestling quality. [source]

Egg-yolk androgen and carotenoid deposition as a function of maternal social environment in barn swallows Hirundo rustica

JOURNAL OF AVIAN BIOLOGY, Issue 4 2010
Rebecca J. Safran
Evidence is mounting that female animals use egg-yolk compounds (e.g. steroids, antioxidants) to adaptively engineer the quality of their offspring as a function of several maternal and environmental factors. Though adjustments to yolk allocation have been well-characterized as a function of parental phenotypes, we know very little about how an individual's social environment influences yolk composition. Here, we consider how two types of yolk compounds, androgens and carotenoids, relate to the maternal social environment during the egg-laying period, controlling statistically for known correlations between various aspects of parental quality and egg yolk compounds. Barn swallows Hirundo rustica erythrogaster breed in groups of highly variable size and spacing, allowing us to test whether or not the social environment is correlated with these maternal effects. We found no relationship between carotenoid levels in eggs as a function of colony size, colony density, or nearest-neighbor distance. However, eggs from females in larger groups had lower concentrations and total amounts of yolk androgens than those from females in smaller, less dense social settings. Our results counter previous predictions and literature, showing that females breeding in large groups deposit more androgen in eggs, mechanistically, because they compete more with conspecifics and have higher circulating androgen levels themselves and, functionally, because it could be advantageous for their offspring to show high androgen-mediated competitive abilities early in life. Instead, because group size in this species is governed largely by site fidelity and the availability of old nests for re-use, and because reproductive output does not differ as a function of group size, it may be that competition is greater for limited nests in small groups, thus elevating androgen levels. Further, yolk androgens were previously shown to be affected by male quality, and the greater concentrations and amounts of yolk androgens in smaller sites may reflect differential allocation to darker males found at these sites. [source]

Breeding success in Blue Tits: good territories or good parents?

JOURNAL OF AVIAN BIOLOGY, Issue 3 2001
Robert Przybylo
Territorial quality and parental quality are usually assumed to be the main sources of variation in the reproductive success of passerine birds. To evaluate their relative importance for variation in breeding time (itself an important factor for breeding success), clutch size and offspring condition at fledging, we analysed six years of data from a Blue Tit Parus caeruleus population breeding on the island of Gotland, Sweden. Hatching dates and the condition of offspring were consistent for territories between years and accounted for 30% and 33% of the variation in these variables, respectively. After removing the effect of territory quality, none of the breeding parameters were significantly repeatable for individual females, but offspring condition was repeatable for males, accounting for 28% of variation. For females breeding on the same territory in subsequent seasons (combined effect of individual and territory quality) only hatching date was repeatable (45% of variation accounted for). In males, the combined effect of individual and territory quality was repeatable for offspring condition and accounted for 33% of variation, but this result was only marginally significant. Consistency of the peak frass-fall date for individual frass collectors over the study period suggests that repeatable hatching dates on territories may be related to the relationship between timing of breeding and timing of peak food availability on territories. Our results suggest that territory quality is more important than parental quality for breeding success in the Blue Tit, and that male (but not female) quality makes a considerable contribution to reproductive success. [source]

Effect of floating nest platforms on the breeding performance of Black Terns

JOURNAL OF FIELD ORNITHOLOGY, Issue 2 2006
David A. Shealer
ABSTRACT In 2003 and 2004, we placed 41 floating nest platforms on Grassy Lake in southeastern Wisconsin (USA) to test the hypothesis that reproductive success of Black Terns (Chlidonias niger) is limited by the quality of suitable nesting habitat. Extreme differences in water levels between these 2 yr provided a natural experiment to evaluate the effectiveness of the nest platforms during a drought year (2003) when natural nesting substrate was abundant, and a flood year (2004) when natural substrate was limited during the peak nesting period. Terns nested on 27 of 41 (66%) of the platforms in 2003 and 26 of 41 (63%) in 2004. No difference in the occupancy rate of platforms and natural nests was evident in 2003, but the pattern of clutch initiations early in the season in 2004 indicated that platforms were preferred over natural substrates. In 2003, nest survival rates did not differ between nests placed on platforms and those placed on natural substrates, but platform nests had significantly higher hatching success and nest survival rates in 2004. Both the Kaplan-Meier and Apparent Nest Success methods of calculating nest survival provided similar estimates. In both years, eggs laid on platforms were significantly larger than those laid on natural substrates, suggesting that platforms were occupied by high-quality birds. Our study indicates that floating nest platforms can be an effective management tool to enhance nesting habitat for Black Terns and other aquatic birds that construct floating nests, primarily because platforms provide nest sites when natural sites are not available due to flooding. Nest platforms also may be useful for addressing questions concerning habitat selection and parental quality. SINOPSIS De 2003-2004 colocamos 41 plataformas flotantes para poner aprueba la hipótesis que el éxito reproductivo de la gaviota Chlidonias níger, esta limitado por la calidad y lo apropiado del hábitat de anidamiento. El estudio se llevó a cabo en el Grassy Lake, Wisconsin. Extremos (bajos y altos) en los niveles de agua, causados por sequía (2203) y fuertes lluvias (2004) proveyeron el escenario adecuado para evaluar la efectividad de las plataformas. Las gaviotas anidaron en 27 (66%) de las 41 plataformas en el 2003 y en 26 (63%) de las 41 en el 2004. No se encontraron diferencias en la tasa de uso de las plataformas y áreas naturales en el 2003, pero el inicio de las camadas temprano en la temporada durante el 2004, dieron a indicar que las plataformas fueron preferidas a los lugares naturales. Durante el 2003, no hubo diferencia en la tasa de supervivencia de nidos en plataformas y o en áreas naturales. Sin embargo, durante el 2004 el éxito de eclosionamiento, de los nidos y la supervivencia fue mas alto en las plataformas. Tanto el método Kaplan-Meier como el "Aparente Éxito de Anidamiento", utilizados para calcular la supervivencia de los nidos, ofrecieron resultados similares. En ambos años el tamaño de los huevos fue mayor en las plataformas que en áreas naturales, lo que implica que las primeras fueron utilizadas por aves sumamente vigorosas o de alta calidad. El estudio indica que las plataformas flotantes pueden ser una herramienta de manejo adecuada para mejorar el hábitat de anidamiento de la gaviota estudiada, al igual que otras aves que construyen nidos flotantes. Las plataformas proveen de lugares de anidamientos cuando no hay disponible lugares naturales debido a inundaciones. Las plataformas de anidamiento muy bien pudieran proveer de información útil con respecto a la selección de hábitat y la calidad del cuidado parental. [source]

Parent age differentially influences offspring size over the course of development in Laysan albatross

JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY, Issue 1 2008
D. C. Dearborn
Abstract Offspring growth and survival are predicted to be higher for older parents, due to a variety of mechanisms, such as increased breeding experience or greater investment favored by low residual reproductive value. Yet the extent to which parent age affects offspring viability is likely to vary between different aspects of growth and survival, perhaps being most pronounced at the most stressful stages of reproduction. We studied the link between parent age and nestling growth and survival in the Laysan albatross, a long-lived seabird with a mean first breeding age of 8 years. Offspring of older parents were more likely to survive to fledging. Among those that did fledge, nestlings of older parents grew more rapidly. However, parent age did not influence the eventual asymptotic size that nestlings reached before fledging: fast-growing nestlings of older parents reached 90% of asymptotic size roughly 1 week sooner, but slow-growing nestlings of younger parents eventually caught up in size before fledging. Older parents bred c. 2 days earlier than younger parents, but hatch date did not explain observed variation in offspring success. The extent to which parent age accounted for variation in size of individual nestlings was not constant but peaked near the midpoint of development. This could reflect a time period when demands on parents reveal age-based differences in parental quality. Overall, growth and survival of offspring increased with parent age in this species, even though the late age of first breeding potentially provides a 7-year period for birds to hone their foraging skills or for selection to eliminate low-quality individuals. [source]

Depression, anxiety and quality of life in parents of children with epilepsy

ACTA NEUROLOGICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 5 2009
R. Lv
0bjectives,,, To assess the impact of childhood epilepsy on parental quality of life (QOL) and psychological health, and to investigate possible correlations between parental QOL and background variables as well as parental anxiety and depression. Subjects and methods,,, Parents having an epileptic child (n = 263) and parents having a healthy child (n = 270) were enrolled. Groups were in balance for background variables. Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) Questionnaire, Zung Depression Scale (ZDS) and Zung Anxiety Scale (ZAS) were applied to all parents. Patients were divided into the first visit group (newly diagnosed epilepsy) and follow-up visit group. Results,,, The parents of children with epilepsy had significantly lower QOL scores in SF-36 for all subscales and higher levels of depression and anxiety by using ZDS and ZAS. The factors correlated with parental QOL were seizure control, visit status, anxiety, depression, employment, cost of epilepsy, status epilepticus, drug side effect and age of parents. Conclusions,,, Childhood epilepsy has a severe impact on parental QOL and psychological health, and recognition of possible correlations between parental QOL and background variables will be helpful to improve parental QOL. [source]