Primate Evidence on the Late Health Effects of Early Life Adversity

Gabriella Conti (), Christopher Hansman (), James J. Heckman, Matthew Novak (), Angela Ruggiero and Stephen Suomi ()
Additional contact information
Christopher Hansman: Columbia University
Matthew Novak: Central Oregon Community College
Angela Ruggiero: NICHD
Stephen Suomi: NICHD

No 2012-008, Working Papers from Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group

Abstract: This paper exploits a unique ongoing experiment to analyze the effects of early rearing conditions on physical and mental health in a sample of rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta). We analyze the health records of 231 monkeys which were randomly allocated at birth across three rearing conditions: Mother Rearing, Peer Rearing, and Surrogate Peer Rearing. We show that the lack of a secure attachment relationship in the early years engendered by adverse rearing conditions has detrimental long-term effects on health which are not compensated by a normal social environment later in life.

Keywords: rhesus monkeys; health; maternal behavior; social deprivation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I12 J13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea
Date: 2012-04
Note: HI ECI
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http://humcap.uchicago.edu/RePEc/hka/wpaper/Conti_ ... primate-evidence.pdf First version, April 10, 2012 (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: Primate Evidence on the Late Health Effects of Early Life Adversity (2012)
Working Paper: Primate Evidence on the Late Health Effects of Early Life Adversity (2012)
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Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hka:wpaper:2012-008

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