Preparation for Child Psych PRITE and Boards
Introduction
Extremes of parental age had been associated with psychopathology.
Autism
Advanced age of either parent independently increases the risk for autism spectrum disorders (Durkin 2008)
- maternal age of 35 years or older adjusted OR= 1.3 (vs. mothers 25-29 years old)
- paternal age of 40 uears of older adjusted OR = 1.4 (vs. fathers 25-29 years old)
Schizophrenia
- Having a young (<25 y.o.) or an older father (>30 y.o.) was associated with risk for schizophrenia.
- The increase in risk for younger fathers was limited to male (not female) offspring
- The population attributable risk percentage (PAR%) was 10% for paternal age ≥30 and 5% for paternal age <25. (Miller 2011)
ADHD
- Younger age of either parent is associated with increased risk for ADHD. Effect
- there is a 78% increased risk for ADHD in youth born to mothers under 20 years of age. (Chang 2014)
- Fathers under 20 y. had a 1.5-fold [OR] = 1.55 increased risk of having offspring with ADHD (vs fathers 25-29), while mothers and 1.4-fold increase in risk (Chudal R 2015).
References
Durkin MS. Advanced parental age and the risk of autism spectrum disorder. Am J Epidemiol. 2008 Dec 1;168(11):1268-76
Miller B. Meta-analysis of paternal age and schizophrenia risk in male versus female offspring. Schizophr Bull. 2011 Sep;37(5):1039-47
Chang Z. Maternal age at childbirth and risk for ADHD in offspring: a population-based cohort study. Int J Epidemiol. 2014 Dec;43(6):1815-24.