Advanced Paternal Age at Childbearing Is Associated with Psychiatric and Academic Morbidity

Advanced paternal age (APA) is associated with increased genetic mutations during spermatogenesis, which has recently been suggested to increase psychiatric morbidity in the offspring. However, inconsistent epidemiological findings and confounding factors have left the effects of paternal age unclear.

Researchers performed a population-based epidemiological cohort study of all 2,615,081 individuals born in Sweden from 1973 to 2001 to estimate risks for APA-associated psychiatric morbidity and academic dysfunction. The analysis included multiple quasi-experimental designs (e.g., comparison of differentially exposed siblings, comparison of cousins, and comparison of first-born cousins) to control, as well as possible, for genetic and environme…