Dramatic Turn-Around in Cognitive Abilities of Children Born to Older Mothers

Summary: A new study reports that, in contrast to data of 40 years ago, children born to older mothers today are more likely to perform better in cognitive ability tests than those born to younger mothers.

Source: London School of Economics.

In contrast to 40 years ago, children born to older mothers today are more likely to perform better in cognitive ability tests than those born to younger mothers, reveals new research from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR).

This shift is due to the changing characteristics of women who have children at an older age, according to a paper published in the International Journal of Epidemiology.

Older mothers today tend to be more advantaged than younger mothers – for example, they are well educated, are less likely to smoke during pregnancy and are established in professional occupations. This was not necessarily true in the past.

Moreover, today an increasing number of women are having their first child at an older age and, on average, first-born children perform better on cognitive ability tests. This is possibly because they receive more resources and attention from parents than siblings born after them. In contrast, in the past, older mothers were likely to be giving birth to their third or fourth child.

Researchers analysed data from three UK longitudinal studies – the 1958 National Child Development Study, the 1970 British Cohort Study and the 2001 Millennium Cohort Study. Children’s cognitive ability was tested when they were 10/11 years old.

In the 1958 and 1970 cohorts children born to mothers aged 25-29 scored higher than children born to mothers aged 35-39. In the 2001 cohort this result was reversed. Although the results were similar for the children born to mothers over 40, the sample was smaller which means the findings should be treated with caution.

Image shows a pregnant woman.
Older mothers today tend to be more advantaged than younger mothers – for example, they are well educated, are less likely to smoke during pregnancy and are established in professional occupations. This was not necessarily true in the past. NeuroscienceNews.com image is for illustrative purposes only.

When the researchers took the mothers’ social and economic characteristics into account, the differences across cohorts disappeared. This indicates that the changing characteristics of women who have children at an older age were highly likely to be the reason for the cohort differences.

Dr Alice Goisis, a researcher at LSE and the lead author of the paper, said: “Our research is the first to look at how the cognitive abilities of children born to older mothers have changed over time and what might be responsible for this shift.

“It’s essential to better understand how these children are doing given that, since the 1980s, there has been a significant increase in the average age of women having their first child in industrialised countries.

“Cognitive ability is important in and of itself but also because it is a strong predictor of how children fare in later life – in terms of their educational attainment, their occupation and their health.”

About this neuroscience research article

Source: London School of Economics
Image Source: NeuroscienceNews.com image is in the public domain.
Original Research: Full open access research for “The reversing association between advanced maternal age and child cognitive ability: evidence from three UK birth cohorts” by Alice Goisis, Daniel C. Schneider, and Mikko Myrskylä in International Journal of Epidemiology. Published online February 8 2017 doi:10.1093/ije/dyw354

Cite This NeuroscienceNews.com Article

[cbtabs][cbtab title=”MLA”]London School of Economics “Dramatic Turn-Around in Cognitive Abilities of Children Born to Older Mothers.” NeuroscienceNews. NeuroscienceNews, 13 February 2017.
<https://neurosciencenews.com/cognition-older-mothers-6107/>.[/cbtab][cbtab title=”APA”]London School of Economics (2017, February 13). Dramatic Turn-Around in Cognitive Abilities of Children Born to Older Mothers. NeuroscienceNew. Retrieved February 13, 2017 from https://neurosciencenews.com/cognition-older-mothers-6107/[/cbtab][cbtab title=”Chicago”]London School of Economics “Dramatic Turn-Around in Cognitive Abilities of Children Born to Older Mothers.” https://neurosciencenews.com/cognition-older-mothers-6107/ (accessed February 13, 2017).[/cbtab][/cbtabs]


Abstract

The reversing association between advanced maternal age and child cognitive ability: evidence from three UK birth cohorts

Background: Studies on advanced maternal age defined here as age 35 or older– and children’s cognitive ability report mixed evidence. Previous studies have not analysed how the time period considered in existing studies influences the association.

Methods: We analysed trends in the association between maternal age and cognitive ability using data from the 1958 National Child Development Study (n = 10 969), the 1970 British Cohort Study (n = 9362) and the 2000–2002 Millennium Cohort Study (n = 11 600). The dependent variable measures cognitive ability at age 10/11 years. Cognitive scores were standardised to a mean of zero and a standard deviation of one.

Results: For the 1958–70 cohort studies, maternal ages 35 –39 were negatively associated with children’s cognitive ability compared with maternal ages 25–29 (1958 cohort β = −0.06 standard deviations (SD) 95% confidence interval (CI): −0.13, −0.00; 1970 cohort β = −0.12 SD 95% CI: −0.20, −0.03). By contrast, for the 2000–2002 cohort study maternal ages 35–39 were positively associated with cognitive ability (β = 0.16 SD 95% CI: 0.09, 0.23). For maternal ages 40+, the pattern was qualitatively similar. These cross-cohort differences were explained by the fact that in the earlier cohorts advanced maternal age was associated with high parity, whereas in the 2000–2002 cohort it was associated with socioeconomically advantaged family background.

Conclusions: The association between advanced maternal age and children’s cognitive ability changed from negative in the 1958 and 1970 cohorts to positive in the 2000–2002 cohort because of changing parental characteristics. The time period considered can constitute an important factor in determining the association between maternal age and cognitive ability.

“The reversing association between advanced maternal age and child cognitive ability: evidence from three UK birth cohorts” by Alice Goisis, Daniel C. Schneider, and Mikko Myrskylä in International Journal of Epidemiology. Published online February 8 2017 doi:10.1093/ije/dyw354

Feel free to share this Neuroscience News.
Join our Newsletter
I agree to have my personal information transferred to AWeber for Neuroscience Newsletter ( more information )
Sign up to receive our recent neuroscience headlines and summaries sent to your email once a day, totally free.
We hate spam and only use your email to contact you about newsletters. You can cancel your subscription any time.