Parental Age and Autism Spectrum Disorders

Abstract

PURPOSE-We sought to study the possible association between parental age and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by using both a cohort design and a sibling design. RESULTS-A total of 9556 children were diagnosed with an ASD. Both maternal and paternal age were associated with a greater risk of ASD in the offspring (hazard ratios ranging from 1.21 (1.10-1.34) to 1.65 (1.09-2.48) depending on combinations of parental age categories; <35, 35-39, and 40+ years). For mothers younger than 35 years, the risk of ASD increased with increasing father's age group. For fathers younger than 35 years, the risk of ASD increased with increasing maternal age. CONCLUSIONS-We found an association between parental age and ASD in the cohort study, but the combined underlying mechanisms through which paternal and maternal age impact ASD risk do not seem to act synergistically. The results of the sibling analysis suggest that the association between parental age and ASD found in the cohort study cannot be accounted for by common genetic and environmental factors. METHODS-Our

Environmental factors associated with autism spectrum disorder: a scoping review for the years 2003–2013

“…106 Some studies have found paternal and maternal ages to be independent risk factors for ASD after adjusting for spousal age, [126][127][128] and no evidence for a synergistic effect. 117 Other studies have accounted for multicollinearity of maternal and paternal ages and found that advanced maternal age was the primary independent contributor of the parental age effect.…”

“…122,123 A 2012 meta-analysis found the relative risk (RR) of ASD for mothers aged 35 years or over compared to those aged 25 to 29 years to be 1.31 (95% CI: 1.19-1.45). 114 Since the most recent systematic review, 114 four studies have found significant associations between advanced maternal age and ASD 117,118,124,125 and one did not. 106 Some studies have found paternal and maternal ages to be independent risk factors for ASD after adjusting for spousal age, [126][127][128] and no evidence for a synergistic effect.…”

“…13,100,112-114 A 2011 meta-analysis found a pooled odds ratio (OR) for autism of 1.78 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.52-2.07) for fathers 40 to 49 years of age compared with fathers aged 29 years or younger. 113 Since the latest systematic review, 13 four studies have found a significant association with ASD or autism, [115][116][117][118] whereas one did not. 119 De novo mutations and genomic copy number variations burden have been implicated as possible underlying mechanisms, because they increase with paternal age.…”

Parental Age and Cognitive Disability among Children in the United States

“…The incidence of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is elevated when children are born to older parents (Sandin et al 2012;Bilder et al 2009;Parner et al 2012), as is incidence of Down syndrome (Sherman et al 2007), schizophrenia (Miller et al 2011), and behavioral problems (Gray, Indurkhya & McCormick 2004). Many other health conditions also are related to parental age.…”

Current Issues around Child and Adolescent Behaviors

“…Developmental disorders are regarded as a congenital disease, whose cause is associated to some factors. Besides the maternal age, recent studies mention the effects of paternal age on risk of autism spectrum disorder, one of the developmental disorders [3][4][5]. Since tendency to marry later has advanced in developed countries, the mechanism of onset of developmental disorders is to be studied.…”