Grandparenting and the Evolution of Post-Reproductive Lifespan

祖父母教养和生育后寿命的演变

• 批准号: 0422690
• 负责人: Michael Gurven
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of California-Santa Barbara
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2004
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2004-08-01 至 2010-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0422690&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Grandparenting; Evolution; Post; Reproductive; Lifespan

Humans have very long lifespans, a significant portion of which is spent in a non-reproductive state, in comparison to other primates. Although lifespan has increased over the past century, there is good evidence that the pattern of a long, post-reproductive lifespan is not novel, and that recent increases in longevity are just extreme manifestations of the general human pattern. This research project attempts to test several hypotheses for this extension of the human lifespan, focusing on support by mothers of their own offspring; support by grandmothers of grandchildren; the support by fathers of their offspring; and a model of support focusing on embodied capital. Several of these hypotheses emphasize the quantity and quality of help that grandparents provide for their descendants, which can be interpreted as a form of indirect reproduction. The researchers will examine behavioral pathways by which older individuals impact their descendants' well-being, the impacts grandparents have on the growth, health, and morbidity of grandchildren, and the effects such assistance may have on fitness outcomes such as child fertility and grandchild survivorship. The project focuses on the Tsimane, a group of forager-horticulturalists in Amazonian Bolivia. The researcher will work with anthropologists and physicians from Bolivia and the U.S., and study over 2,500 Tsimane living in 22 villages. Methods include demographic and life-historical interviews; analysis of extant data from missionary and public sources; biomedical assessments of health and morbidity; anthropometrical measures; time allocation and resource production observations and interviews; and food consumption and resource transfer observations and interviews. The project represents the first extensive tests of theories concerning longevity that examine the overall fitness effects among kin and the proximate means by which such effects are realized in a traditional small-scale population with a sufficiently large sample size. Such small-scale foraging-horticultural populations are the closest contemporary analogues to our human ancestors, so the new knowledge to be gained will help to advance understanding of our human history. The opportunity to do research with these sorts of populations is fast disappearing due to development and urbanization. The broader significance includes the value of the empirical data and ethnography of aging for a variety of health and welfare planners. The project will actively involve community members in data collection and train local people in primary health care, as well as provide some primary care assistance. In addition, the researchers will organize data on the health status of children and elderly, and the role of inter-generational support networks for the purpose of planning future local health initiatives.

与其他灵长类动物相比，人类的寿命非常长，其中很大一部分是在非生殖状态下度过的。尽管在过去的一个世纪里，人类的寿命有所延长，但有充分的证据表明，生育后寿命延长的模式并不新鲜，最近寿命的延长只是人类普遍模式的极端表现。这个研究项目试图测试人类寿命延长的几个假设，重点是母亲对自己后代的支持；孙辈的祖母的支持；父亲对子女的支持；以及以实体资本为核心的支持模式。这些假设中有几个强调祖父母为后代提供帮助的数量和质量，这可以被解释为一种间接繁殖的形式。研究人员将研究老年人影响其后代福祉的行为途径，祖父母对孙辈的成长、健康和发病率的影响，以及这种帮助可能对健康结果（如儿童生育率和孙辈存活率）的影响。该项目的重点是提斯曼人，这是玻利维亚亚马逊流域的一群采摘园艺家。研究人员将与玻利维亚和美国的人类学家和医生合作，研究生活在22个村庄的2500多名提斯曼人。方法包括人口统计学和生活史访谈；分析来自传教士和公共来源的现有数据；健康和发病率的生物医学评估；anthropometrical措施;时间分配和资源生产观察访谈；以及食物消耗和资源转移的观察和访谈。该项目首次对有关长寿的理论进行了广泛的测试，这些理论考察了亲属之间的整体适应性效应，以及在具有足够大样本量的传统小规模人口中实现这种效应的近似方法。这种小规模的采食园艺种群与我们的人类祖先最相似，因此获得的新知识将有助于促进对人类历史的理解。由于发展和城市化，对这类人群进行研究的机会正在迅速消失。更广泛的意义包括经验数据和老龄化人种学对各种健康和福利规划者的价值。该项目将积极让社区成员参与数据收集，培训当地人民了解初级保健，并提供一些初级保健援助。此外，研究人员将整理关于儿童和老年人健康状况的数据，以及代际支助网络的作用，以便规划未来的地方保健倡议。