Church attendance and alloparenting: an analysis of fertility, social support and child development among English mothers.

ABSTRACT: Many aspects of religious rituals suggest they provide adaptive benefits. Studies across societies consistently find that investments in ritual behaviour return high levels of cooperation. Another line of research finds that alloparental support to mothers increases maternal fertility and improves child outcomes. Although plausible, whether religious cooperation extends to alloparenting and/or affects child development remains unclear. Using 10 years of data collected from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), we test the predictions that church attendance is positively associated with social support and fertility (n = 8207 to n = 8209), and that social support is positively associated with fertility and child development (n = 1766 to n =

SUBMITTER: Shaver JH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7423262 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature