Implications of Advancing Paternal Age: Does It Affect Offspring School Performance?

Abstract

Average paternal age is increasing in many high income countries, but the implications of this demographic shift for child health and welfare are poorly understood. There is equivocal evidence that children of older fathers are at increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders and reduced IQ. We therefore report here on the relationship between paternal age and a composite indicator of scholastic achievement during adolescence, i.e. compulsory school leaving grades, among recent birth cohorts in Stockholm County where delayed paternity is notably common. We performed a record-linkage study comprising all individuals in Stockholm County who finished 9 years of compulsory school from 2000 through 2007 (n = 155,875). Data on school leaving grades and parental characteristics were retrieved from administrative and health service registers and analyzed using multiple linear regression. Advancing paternal age at birth was not associated with a decrease in school leaving grades in adolescent offspring. After adjustment for year of graduation, maternal age and parental education, country of birth and parental mental health service use, offspring of fathers aged 50 years or older had on average 0.3 (95% CI −3.8, 4.4) points higher grades than those of fathers aged 30–34 years. In conclusion, advancing paternal age is not associated with poorer school performance in adolescence. Adverse effects of delayed paternity on offspring cognitive function, if any, may be counterbalanced by other potential advantages for children born to older fathers.

Paternal Age and General Cognitive Ability—A Cross Sectional Study of Danish Male Conscripts

“…The finding of no impairment in offspring of older fathers in the adjusted model is consistent with the most recent studies [18-20]. In contrast, the negative impact of being the offspring of a teenage father persisted in the full model, and is consistent with the findings from the Israeli conscript study [16], the Swedish school performance study [19] and the Swedish conscript [20]. …”

“…Svensson and colleagues examined a composite educational score among children in Stockholm who completed 9 years of compulsory schooling (n = 155,875) - they found that children of older fathers did not have worse school performance [19]. Another, larger Swedish study, based on male conscripts (n = 565,433) examined the association between paternal age and a measure of general intelligence, assessed between age 17 and 20 years [20].…”

Associations of parental age with health and social factors in adult offspring. Methodological pitfalls and possibilities

“…A previous study of the same data source, using a slightly different outcome and a more recent cohort (born 1973–1991)13 found similar results, except that adjustment also attenuated the apparent disadvantage of having a young father somewhat. Another Swedish study52 found reduced educational outcomes in the offspring of young fathers (attenuated by adjustment), but no decline (whether adjusted or not) among the offspring of older fathers. A recent review53 concluded that educational achievement was positively associated with maternal age, but that studies differed in the extent to which that association was attenuated by adjustment for socioeconomic position.…”

The Sperm Epigenome, Male Aging, and Potential Effects on the Embryo

“…More recently, it has been suggested that advanced paternal age is signifi cantly associated with many forms of neuropsychiatric or neurocognitive diseases including autism spectrum disorders (ASD) (Gardener et al 2009 ;Hultman et al 2011 ), bipolar disorder (Frans et al 2008 ;Menezes et al 2010 ), and general increases in behavioral issues (Kuja-Halkola et al 2012 ;Saha et al 2009a ) in children of older fathers though some controversy exists. In addition, some studies indicate that children of older fathers display slightly reduced IQ compared with children of younger fathers (Malaspina et al 2005 ;Saha et al 2009b ), although the differences are small, and confl icting reports exist (Svensson et al 2011 ).…”