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Associations of parental mental disorders and age with childhood mental disorders: a population-based cohort study with four million offspring

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Abstract

This Taiwan study examined the associations of parental age and mental disorders with the offspring risks of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), major depressive disorder (MDD), and bipolar disorder (BD). Children born between January 1991 and December 2004 in Taiwan were enrolled as the birth cohort (n = 4,138,151) and followed up until December 2011. A logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the odds ratio (OR). The advanced age effects were significant in ADHD (range of OR: 1.04 to 1.49) and ASD (range of OR: 1.35 to 2.27). Teenage mothers, teenage fathers, and fathers ≥ 50 years had higher offspring risks of MDD (range of OR: 1.24 to 1.46); and teenage mothers and fathers ≥ 50 years had increased offspring risks of BD (range of OR: 1.23 to 1.87). Both paternal and maternal mental disorders were associated with higher risks of within-disorder transmission for ADHD, ASD, MDD, and BD (range of OR: 2.64 to 30.41). Besides, parents with one of these four mental disorders (ADHD, ASD, MDD, and BD) might have higher risk of cross-disorder transmission to at least one of the other three mental disorders in the offspring (range of OR: 1.35 to 7.15). Parental age and mental disorders had complex and nuanced patterns in association with offspring mental disorders.

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Funding

The study was supported by grant from Taipei Veterans General Hospital (V106B-020, V107B-010, V107C-181, V107C-052) and Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan (107–2314-B-075–063-MY3). The funding source had no role in any process of study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Beitou Branch, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan

    Chih-Sung Liang & Hsuan-Te Chu

  2. Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan

    Chih-Sung Liang

  3. Department of Psychiatry, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, No. 201, Shih-Pai Road, Sec. 2, 11217, Taipei, Taiwan

    Ya-Mei Bai, Ju-Wei Hsu, Kai-Lin Huang, Shih-Jen Tsai & Mu-Hong Chen

  4. Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan

    Ya-Mei Bai, Ju-Wei Hsu, Kai-Lin Huang, Shih-Jen Tsai & Mu-Hong Chen

  5. Department of Nursing, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University and Hospital, Tainan, Taiwan

    Nai-Ying Ko

  6. Department of Psychiatry, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan

    Ta-Chuan Yeh

  7. Department of Family Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan

    Tzeng-Ji Chen

  8. Institute of Hospital and Health Care Administration, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan

    Tzeng-Ji Chen

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  1. Chih-Sung Liang
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  2. Ya-Mei Bai
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  7. Hsuan-Te Chu
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Correspondence to Ju-Wei Hsu or Mu-Hong Chen.

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Liang, CS., Bai, YM., Hsu, JW. et al. Associations of parental mental disorders and age with childhood mental disorders: a population-based cohort study with four million offspring. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 32, 825–833 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-021-01914-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-021-01914-3

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