BehaviorNCT00342225
Mother-Child Relationships During Pregnancy Among Bofi Foragers
An observational study of Behavior, run by Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) at 2 sites in Central African Republic.
Trial summary
This study will examine changes in mother-child relationships when mothers are pregnant, because this period may involve conflicts between mothers and children. A widely held evolutionary theory postulates that because parents and offspring share only about 50 percent of their genes, conflicts occur and would most… Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Any age
- Conditions the study is for
- Behavior
- How many people
- 60 participants
- Where
- 2 sitesCentral African Republic
- Study dates
- 19 Dec 2002to 21 Dec 2006
- Phase
- Observational
- Are there results?
- None posted in the registry
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages Any age
- All sexes
- No healthy volunteers
- Child, Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- All pregnant forager women living in settlements associated with the villages of Ouesso, Kobu, and Bomassa, who have one or more living offspring, and do no exhibit any serious health problems related to pregnancy will be asked to participate. Women will not be excluded based upon economic or social status, marital status, or spiritual beliefs.
Who cannot join
None listed.
Trial locations and contacts
2 sites in 1 country.
Central African Republic2 sites
Central African Republic
Ngotto
Republic of Condo
Sangha
About this study
Official title: Mother-Child Relationships During Pregnancy Among the Bofi Foragers in the Northern Congo
This study will examine changes in mother-child relationships when mothers are pregnant, because this period may involve conflicts between mothers and children. A widely held evolutionary theory postulates that because parents and offspring share only about 50 percent of their genes, conflicts occur and would most likely occur at times when parental investment decreases. Offspring benefit from obtaining maximal parental investment and may demand more investment than parents are willing to give at times, perhaps because the parent would better benefit from directing their energy to other pursuits, such as to other offspring or to work. This study will explore the following:
- How pregnant mothers treat their children, in terms of caregiving techniques;
- Whether mothers exhibit different caregiving patterns at different stages of pregnancy;
- Whether mother-child conflicts arise during pregnancy, and, if so, when during pregnancy they are most likely to occur; and;
- Whether offspring overtly resist changes in maternal behavior during pregnancy, and, if so, what behaviors children use to resist these changes.
Read more
All pregnant Bofi forager women living in settlements near the villages of Ngotto, Poutem, Bambondji, and Grima (in the Central African Republic) who have one or more living offspring and have no serious health problems related to pregnancy may be eligible for this study. Bofi foragers are among the few remaining hunters and gatherers and, as such, offer an opportunity to examine child developmental theories that have been well studied among industrialized Euro-American cultures, but neglected cross-culturally. Furthermore, studies among contemporary hunter-gatherers provide insight into the evolutionary past of humans, as humans have lived as hunter-gatherers for about 99 percent of prehistory.
Participating pregnant Bofi forager women will be interviewed for demographic information, family genealogy, fertility history, and parenting beliefs. The women and their children will be observed for 4 hours on two different days as they carry out their normal daily activities. Attention will be paid to the mother's investment in terms of direct care of the children, including behaviors such as holding, cleaning, comforting, grooming, and feeding children.
Read the detailed description
This study seeks to examine parent-offspring reproductive conflicts between Bofi forager mothers and children in the Republic of Congo. One of the most prominent theories in evolutionary studies of human behavior is Trivers' (1974) parent-offspring conflict theory, which predicts that offspring contrive to maximize investment from their parents, whereas parents try to balance the interests of their offspring with the interests of their future reproduction. Fouts (2002) and Fouts, Hewlett \& Lamb's (2001) research with the Bofi foragers indicated that weaning was not a time that elicited overt conflict between mothers and their offspring. Instead, transitions in investment appeared to have occurred prior to weaning, perhaps when the mothers became pregnant.
This study proposes to document mother-child interactions when forager mothers are at different stages of pregnancy through naturalistic observations of public behavior, as well as measures including: the approximate week of pregnancy, maternal beliefs about child-care, and demographic features of families. The data will be analyzed statistically and used to evaluate Trivers' parent-offspring theory, as well as to evaluate the validity of claims by Western scholars about universal features of parent-child relationships. The foragers provide an excellent opportunity to examine child developmental theories that have been well studied among industrialized Euro-American cultures, but neglected cross-culturally. Furthermore, studies among contemporary hunter-gatherer groups, such as the foragers in Congo, provide insight into the evolutionary past of humans, as humans have lived as hunter-gatherers for approximately 99% of prehistory, and the few remaining groups are disappearing rapidly (Phillipson 1993).
- Conditions
- Behavior
- Keywords
- Observation, Mothers, Description
- Medical subject headings
- Behavior
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted21 Jun 2006 (estimated)
- Study start19 Dec 2002
- Study completion21 Dec 2006
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Publications (1)Papers the sponsor has linked to this study.
- Other trials for BehaviorStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Observational
- Enrolment
- 60 participants
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
- Sponsor type
- US National Institutes of Health
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT00342225
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- 999903073
- Other IDs
- 03-CH-N073
- Status last verified
- 21 Dec 2006
- First submitted
- 19 Jun 2006
- Last updated
- 2 Jul 2017
- Results posted
- No
Publications
Hewlett BS, Lamb ME, Shannon D, Leyendecker B, Scholmerich A. Culture and early infancy among central African foragers and farmers. Dev Psychol. 1998 Jul;34(4):653-61. doi: 10.1037//0012-1649.34.4.653.
PubMed 9681257
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 2 Jul 2017. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Mother-Child Relationships During Pregnancy Among the Bofi Foragers in the Northern Congo
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT00342225
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- 999903073
- Conditions
- Behavior
- Keywords
- Observation, Mothers, Description
- Study type
- Observational
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Enrolment
- 60 participants
- Lead sponsor
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)US National Institutes of Health
- Study start
- 19 Dec 2002
- Study completion
- 21 Dec 2006
- First posted
- 21 Jun 2006 (estimated)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
This study will examine changes in mother-child relationships when mothers are pregnant, because this period may involve conflicts between mothers and children. A widely held evolutionary theory postulates that because parents and offspring share only about 50 percent of their genes, conflicts occur and would most likely occur at times when parental investment decreases. Offspring benefit from obtaining maximal parental investment and may demand more investment than parents are willing to give at times, perhaps because the parent would better benefit from directing their energy to other pursuits, such as to other offspring or to work. This study will explore the following:
- How pregnant mothers treat their children, in terms of caregiving techniques;
- Whether mothers exhibit different caregiving patterns at different stages of pregnancy;
- Whether mother-child conflicts arise during pregnancy, and, if so, when during pregnancy they are most likely to occur; and;
- Whether offspring overtly resist changes in maternal behavior during pregnancy, and, if so, what behaviors children use to resist these changes.
All pregnant Bofi forager women living in settlements near the villages of Ngotto, Poutem, Bambondji, and Grima (in the Central African Republic) who have one or more living offspring and have no serious health problems related to pregnancy may be eligible for this study. Bofi foragers are among the few remaining hunters and gatherers and, as such, offer an opportunity to examine child developmental theories that have been well studied among industrialized Euro-American cultures, but neglected cross-culturally. Furthermore, studies among contemporary hunter-gatherers provide insight into the evolutionary past of humans, as humans have lived as hunter-gatherers for about 99 percent of prehistory.
Participating pregnant Bofi forager women will be interviewed for demographic information, family genealogy, fertility history, and parenting beliefs. The women and their children will be observed for 4 hours on two different days as they carry out their normal daily activities. Attention will be paid to the mother's investment in terms of direct care of the children, including behaviors such as holding, cleaning, comforting, grooming, and feeding children.
Detailed description
This study seeks to examine parent-offspring reproductive conflicts between Bofi forager mothers and children in the Republic of Congo. One of the most prominent theories in evolutionary studies of human behavior is Trivers' (1974) parent-offspring conflict theory, which predicts that offspring contrive to maximize investment from their parents, whereas parents try to balance the interests of their offspring with the interests of their future reproduction. Fouts (2002) and Fouts, Hewlett \& Lamb's (2001) research with the Bofi foragers indicated that weaning was not a time that elicited overt conflict between mothers and their offspring. Instead, transitions in investment appeared to have occurred prior to weaning, perhaps when the mothers became pregnant.
This study proposes to document mother-child interactions when forager mothers are at different stages of pregnancy through naturalistic observations of public behavior, as well as measures including: the approximate week of pregnancy, maternal beliefs about child-care, and demographic features of families. The data will be analyzed statistically and used to evaluate Trivers' parent-offspring theory, as well as to evaluate the validity of claims by Western scholars about universal features of parent-child relationships. The foragers provide an excellent opportunity to examine child developmental theories that have been well studied among industrialized Euro-American cultures, but neglected cross-culturally. Furthermore, studies among contemporary hunter-gatherer groups, such as the foragers in Congo, provide insight into the evolutionary past of humans, as humans have lived as hunter-gatherers for approximately 99% of prehistory, and the few remaining groups are disappearing rapidly (Phillipson 1993).
Study design
Who may qualify
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Not accepted
- Age groups
- Child, Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (1 listed)
- All pregnant forager women living in settlements associated with the villages of Ouesso, Kobu, and Bomassa, who have one or more living offspring, and do no exhibit any serious health problems related to pregnancy will be asked to participate. Women will not be excluded based upon economic or social status, marital status, or spiritual beliefs.
Key exclusion criteria (0 listed)
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Primary outcome
Not reported in the source record.
Results and safety
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 2 Jul 2017.
- Background: PubMed 9681257Hewlett BS, Lamb ME, Shannon D, Leyendecker B, Scholmerich A. Culture and early infancy among central African foragers and farmers. Dev Psychol. 1998 Jul;34(4):653-61. doi: 10.1037//0012-1649.34.4.653.
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
The record lists no contact. Use the official record to reach the sponsor.
2 sites in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
An observational study of Behavior, run by Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) at 2 sites in Central African Republic.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 1 inclusion and 0 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 2 Jul 2017. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 2 sites in Central African Republic. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
Where can I read the original study information?
On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT00342225, which also lists 1 linked publication.
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 2 Jul 2017.