Men do have a biological clock!

Babies born to fathers under 25 and over 51 at higher risk of autism, study reveals

Listen up men and women! Contrary to popular belief, it's not just women who have a ticking biological clock, a new study claims. Men who have babies before 25 or after 51 risk having babies with social disorders, from poor communication skills to autism, according to the latest research.

Intriguingly, scientists at Mount Sinai in New York found these children tend to be more advanced than their peers in infancy and early childhood, reports Daily Mail. However, by adolescence they were lagging behind the rest.



Thing to note: researchers found no link between maternal age and social skill development issues. “Our study suggests that social skills are a key domain affected by paternal age. What was interesting is that the development of those skills was altered in the offspring of both older as well as very young fathers,” alleged Magdalena Janecka, PhD, a fellow at the Seaver Autism Centre for Research and Treatment at Mount Sinai, adding, “In extreme cases, these effects may contribute to clinical disorders. Our study, however, suggests that they could also be much more subtle.”

Dr Janecka and her co-authors used a UK-based sample of more than 15,000 twins who were followed between the ages of four and 16. To find out whether children's social skills were affected by how old their father was when they were born, the team looked for differences in the developmental patterns of social skills, as well as other behaviours, including conduct and peer problems, hyperactivity, and sensitivity.



Separately, they investigated whether the effects of paternal age on development were more likely attributable to genetic or environmental factors. The researchers found that children born to very young and older fathers - below 25 and over 51 years of age, respectively - showed more prosocial behaviours in early development.

However, by the time they reached adolescence, they lagged behind their peers with middle-aged fathers. These effects were specific to the social domain and were not observed in relation to maternal age.

The genetic analyses further revealed that development of social skills was influenced predominantly by genetic rather than environmental factors, and that those genetic effects became even more important as the paternal age increased.


Dr Janecka revealed, “We observed those effects in the general population, which suggests children born to very young or older fathers may find social situations more challenging, even if they do not meet the diagnostic criteria for autism.”

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