Primate Evidence on the Late Health Effects of Early Life Adversity
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.
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Copy CitationGabriella Conti, Christopher Hansman, James J. Heckman, Matthew F. X. Novak, Angela Ruggiero, and Stephen J. Suomi, "Primate Evidence on the Late Health Effects of Early Life Adversity," NBER Working Paper 18002 (2012), https://doi.org/10.3386/w18002.
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Published Versions
G. Conti & C. Hansman & J. J. Heckman & M. F. X. Novak & A. Ruggiero & S. J. Suomi, 2012. "Primate evidence on the late health effects of early-life adversity," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol 109(23), pages 8866-8871.