IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v22y2025i6p944-d1680310.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Ultimate Context of the Termination of Parental Investment

Author

Listed:
  • Josip Hrgović

    (Department of Public Relations, University North, Dr. Žarko Dolinar Sq., 48000 Koprivnica, Croatia)

Abstract

This paper investigates the ultimate socioeconomic causes underlying the termination of parental investment in humans by analyzing the relationship between socioeconomic status and various forms of child mortality, including live births, stillbirths, infant deaths, and infanticide. Utilizing theoretical foundations from human behavioral ecology, the study illustrates how different forms of termination of parental investment can be viewed as points along a continuum of adaptive strategies aimed at optimizing reproductive fitness. The research emphasizes that technical and cognitive limitations lead to many instances of infanticide being concealed as natural child deaths, such as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), thus complicating the accurate detection of true causes of death. However, addressing common ultimate causes—specifically socioeconomic factors such as healthcare accessibility, nutritional quality, social support, and stress reduction—can simultaneously prevent or reduce all forms of investment termination. The paper further analyzes demographic data from Zagreb and surrounding municipalities. Ultimately, the study advocates a holistic approach to public health interventions and policies aimed at improving socioeconomic conditions as a crucial step toward reducing all forms of child mortality.

Suggested Citation

  • Josip Hrgović, 2025. "Ultimate Context of the Termination of Parental Investment," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 22(6), pages 1-17, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:22:y:2025:i:6:p:944-:d:1680310
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/6/944/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/6/944/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bijaya K Padhi & Kelly K Baker & Ambarish Dutta & Oliver Cumming & Matthew C Freeman & Radhanatha Satpathy & Bhabani S Das & Pinaki Panigrahi, 2015. "Risk of Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes among Women Practicing Poor Sanitation in Rural India: A Population-Based Prospective Cohort Study," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(7), pages 1-18, July.
    2. Daniel Kim & Adrianna Saada, 2013. "The Social Determinants of Infant Mortality and Birth Outcomes in Western Developed Nations: A Cross-Country Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-40, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kenzie Latham-Mintus & Brittney Ortiz & Ashley Irby & Jack Turman, 2024. "Supporting the Development of Grassroots Maternal and Childhood Health Leaders through a Public-Health-Informed Training Program," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(4), pages 1-15, April.
    2. Yi Rong Hoo & George Joseph & Rafael Rivera & Susanna Smets & Hanh Nguyen & Per Ljung & Sreymom Um & Georgia Davis & Jeff Albert, 2022. "Strategic complements: Poverty-targeted subsidy programs show additive benefits on household toilet purchases in rural Cambodia when coupled with sanitation marketing," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(6), pages 1-27, June.
    3. Johannes Haushofer & Michael Kremer & Ricardo Maertens & Brandon Joel Tan, 2021. "Water Treatment and Child Mortality: Evidence from Kenya," NBER Working Papers 29447, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Abdul Azeez E.P. & Dandub Palzor Negi & Aditi Mishra, 2019. "Women’s Experiences of Defecating in the Open: A Qualitative Study," Indian Journal of Gender Studies, Centre for Women's Development Studies, vol. 26(1-2), pages 160-170, February.
    5. Spears, Dean, 2020. "Exposure to open defecation can account for the Indian enigma of child height," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    6. Roman Pabayo & Amy Ehntholt & Daniel M. Cook & Megan Reynolds & Peter Muennig & Sze Y. Liu, 2020. "Laws Restricting Access to Abortion Services and Infant Mortality Risk in the United States," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-14, May.
    7. Jiseon You & Chad Staddon & Alan Cook & James Walker & Jess Boulton & Wayne Powell & Ioannis Ieropoulos, 2020. "Multidimensional Benefits of Improved Sanitation: Evaluating ‘PEE POWER ® ’ in Kisoro, Uganda," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-14, March.
    8. Cameron, Lisa & Chase, Claire & Contreras Suarez, Diana, 2021. "Relationship between water and sanitation and maternal health: Evidence from Indonesia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    9. Maeve E. Wallace & Carmen Green & Lisa Richardson & Katherine Theall & Joia Crear-Perry, 2017. "“Look at the Whole Me”: A Mixed-Methods Examination of Black Infant Mortality in the US through Women’s Lived Experiences and Community Context," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-14, July.
    10. Márcio L. B. Lopes & Raquel de M. Barbosa & Marcelo A. C. Fernandes, 2022. "Unsupervised Learning Applied to the Stratification of Preterm Birth Risk in Brazil with Socioeconomic Data," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-20, May.
    11. Amrita Chatterjee & Shriya Agarwal, 2019. "Can Women Empowerment Help to Reduce Open Defecation in India: Evidence from NFHS 4," Working Papers 2019-186, Madras School of Economics,Chennai,India.
    12. Laurens Holmes Jr. & Leah O’Neill & Hikma Elmi & Chinaka Chinacherem & Camillia Comeaux & Lavisha Pelaez & Kirk W. Dabney & Olumuyiwa Akinola & Michael Enwere, 2020. "Implication of Vaginal and Cesarean Section Delivery Method in Black–White Differentials in Infant Mortality in the United States: Linked Birth/Infant Death Records, 2007–2016," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(9), pages 1-12, April.
    13. repec:plo:pmed00:1001896 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Sebastien Desbureaux & Richard Damania & Aude-Sophie Rodella & Jason Russ & Esha Zaveri, 2019. "The Impact of Water Quality on GDP Growth," World Bank Publications - Reports 33071, The World Bank Group.
    15. Bethany A. Caruso & Thomas Clasen & Kathryn M. Yount & Hannah L. F. Cooper & Craig Hadley & Regine Haardörfer, 2017. "Assessing Women’s Negative Sanitation Experiences and Concerns: The Development of a Novel Sanitation Insecurity Measure," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-22, July.
    16. Claire Leppold & Shuhei Nomura & Toyoaki Sawano & Akihiko Ozaki & Masaharu Tsubokura & Sarah Hill & Yukio Kanazawa & Hiroshi Anbe, 2017. "Birth Outcomes after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Disaster: A Long-Term Retrospective Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-14, May.
    17. Calzada, Joan & Iranzo, Susana, 2021. "Can communal systems work? The effects of communal water provision on child health in Peru," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:22:y:2025:i:6:p:944-:d:1680310. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.