Maternal age, autistic-like traits and mentalizing as predictors of child autistic-like traits in a population-based cohort.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Many empirical studies suggest that higher maternal age increases the likelihood of having an autistic child. However, little is known about factors that may explain this relationship or if higher maternal age is related to the number of autistic-like traits in offspring. One possibility is that mothers who have a higher number of autistic-like traits, including greater challenges performing mentalizing skills, are delayed in finding a partner. The goal of our study is to assess the relationship between maternal age, mentalizing skills and autistic-like traits as independent predictors of the number of autistic-like traits in offspring.

Methods

In a population-based study in the Netherlands, information on maternal age was collected during pre- and perinatal enrol

SUBMITTER: Sari NP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9199218 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature