Nest-Building Effort is Not An Indicator of Male Quality In Bonelli’s Eagles, Aquila fasciata

Raptors often use a variety of materials to build their nests (natural, such as branches, but also non-natural objects), presumably due to their insulating properties, their suitability to advertise occupancy of the nest, and to decrease pathogen and parasite loads. The amount of branches used in a nest is an indicator of parental quality and is often associated with increased breeding success. However, in raptors where both sexes collaborate in nest construction, it is unclear whether the effort expended by males (taking the amount of material carried to the nest as the potential predictor) could constitute an honest signal of parental quality to female conspecifics. We examined data on sex, type of material brought to the nest, breeding experience, timing, and nest-building investment prior to egg-laying from 32 identifiable Bonelli’s Eagles (Aquila fasciata) during the pre-laying period to investigate the relative contribution of the sexes to the amount of nest material gathered. We asked: (1) whether the nest-building investment of males could provide information to the females about their quality; and (2) whether the amount of material delivered to the nest by the male was related to breeding success. Despite the considerable investment of males in nest-building during the pre-laying period, our results indicate that this effort is not a consistent indicator of male quality to the female. Therefore, male nest-building behaviour and investment by Bonelli’s Eagles cannot be considered as an extended expression of their phenotype (an extended phenotypic signal). Nest-building behaviour by males in the early and late stages of nest-building, and the fact that males were not significantly more active builders, are discussed in the contexts of signaling nest occupancy to conspecifics and competitors, the decrease of parasite loads, and the strengthening of the pair-bond during the pre-laying period.

Parental Quality of Life and Involvement in Intervention for Children or Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Systematic Review

Previous research has examined several parental, child-related, and contextual factors associated with parental quality of life (QoL) among parents with a child or an adolescent with autism spectrum disorders (ASD); however, no systematic review has examined the relationship between parental QoL and parental involvement in intervention. To fill this gap, a systematic review was conducted using four electronic databases and checked reference lists of retrieved studies. Records were included in the systematic review if they presented original data, assessed parental QoL, and involvement in intervention for children or adolescents with ASD, were published in peer-reviewed journals between 2000 and 2020, and were written in English. Among the 96 screened full-texts, 17 articles met the eligibility criteria. The selected studies included over 2000 parents of children or adolescents with ASD. Three categories of parental involvement (i.e., none, indirect, direct) were identified, which varied across studies, although most had direct parental involvement. The results from this review show that increased parental involvement in the intervention for children or adolescents with ASD may be one way to promote their QoL. However, further research specifically focused on parental involvement during the intervention for children and adolescents with ASD is warranted.

Behavioural Concerns of Children on the Autism Spectrum and the Impact on Parental Quality of Life

PurposeThis study aimed to determine the association between parental quality of life (QoL) and autism severity, child’s cognitive level, adaptive behaviour and behavioural profile, and sociodemographic factors utilising the Quality of Life in Autism Questionnaire (QoLA).MethodsParents of children attending an autism specific preschool centre completed a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Quality of Life in Autism Questionnaire (QoLA), Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scales 2nd edition (VABS) and Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL). Trained researchers assessed autism severity with the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-2 (ADOS-2) and the cognitive level with the Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL).ResultsFor parents of children on the autism spectrum, having other children without the condition buffered the potential negative effects on parental QoL. Lower levels of autism severity and internalising behaviours, and higher levels of daily living scores predicted greater perceived parental QoL. Parents perceived their child’s autism-specific behaviour as less problematic when the child had higher socialisation scores. While lower levels of Attention Problems, Withdrawn Behaviour and lower scores on the Dysregulation Profile (Externalising Behaviours, Aggressive Behaviour and Anxious/Depressed) predicted greater perceived parental QoL, higher levels of Withdrawn Behaviour, Aggression and Externalising Behaviour predicted poorer perceived parental QoL. There were no significant findings for the relationship between parental QoL and cognitive level.ConclusionThe present research establishes the complex effects of raising a child on the autism spectrum on parental QoL. Findings indicate a child’s autism symptom severity, adaptive functioning and behavioural profile has greater impact on parental QoL than cognitive level.

Clutch quality is related to embryonic development duration, hatchling body size and telomere length in the spined toad (Bufo spinosus)

Reproductive success is often related to parental quality, a parameter expressed through various traits, such as site selection, mate selection and energetic investment in the eggs or progeny. Owing to the complex interactions between environmental and parental characteristics occurring at various stages of the reproductive event, it is often complicated to tease apart the relative contributions of these different factors to reproductive success. Study systems where these complex interactions are simplified (e.g. absence of parental care) can help us to understand how metrics of parental quality (e.g. gamete and egg quality) influence reproductive success. Using such a study system in a common garden experiment, we investigated the relationships between clutch hatching success (a proxy of clutch quality) and offspring quality in an amphibian species lacking post-oviposition parental care. We found a relationship between clutch quality and embryonic development duration and hatchling phenotype. We found that hatchling telomere length was linked to hatching success. These results suggest that clutch quality is linked to early life traits in larval amphibians and that deciphering the influence of parental traits on the patterns we detected is a promising avenue of research.