Abstract
Teenage motherhood has been associated with a wide variety of negative offspring outcomes including poorer cognitive development. In the context of limitations of previous research, this paper assesses the contemporary relevance of this finding. In this study we investigate the long-term cognitive status (IQ) among 21 year adult offspring born to teenage parents using the Mater University Study of Pregnancy- a prospective birth cohort study, which recruited all pregnant mothers attending a large obstetrical hospital in Brisbane, Australia, from 1981 to 1983. The analyses were restricted to a sub-sample of 2643 mother-offspring pair. Offspring IQ was measured using the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test at 21 year. Parental age was reported at first clinic visit. Offspring born to teenage mothers (<20 years) have -3.0 (95% Confidence Interval (CI): -4.3, -1.8) points lower IQ compared to children born to mothers ≥20 years and were more likely to have a low IQ (Odds Ratio (OR) 1.7; 95% CI: 1.3, 2.3). Adjustment for a range of confounding and mediating factors including parental socioeconomic status, maternal IQ, maternal smoking and binge drinking in pregnancy, birthweight, breastfeeding and parenting style attenuates the association, though the effect remains statistically significant (-1.4 IQ points; 95% CI: -2.8,-0.1). Similarly the risk of offspring having low IQ remained marginally significantly higher in those born to teenage mothers (OR 1.3; 95% CI: 1.0, 1.9). In contrast, teenage fatherhood is not associated with adult offspring IQ, when adjusted for maternal age. Although the reduction in IQ is quantitatively small, it is indicative of neurodevelopmental disadvantage experienced by the young adult offspring of teenage mothers. Our results suggest that public policy initiatives should be targeted not only at delaying childbearing in the population but also at supporting early life condition of children born to teenage mothers to minimize the risk for disadvantageous outcomes of the next generation.
Highlights
Adolescent (10–19 years) birth rates have declined significantly over the last few decades though adolescent mothers still account for 11% of all births globally
While a good deal is known about the impact of teenage parenting on offspring childhood and adolescent cognitive development [11,12,13,14], relatively little research has especially addressed the long term cognitive outcomes of offspring born to teenage parents
Unadjusted mean IQ shows a clear trend towards increasing offspring IQ score as parental age increases (p-values
Summary
Adolescent (10–19 years) birth rates have declined significantly over the last few decades though adolescent mothers still account for 11% of all births globally. In Australia, the teenage birth rate has declined considerably from over 50 per 1000 females in 1970s to 16 per 1000 births in 2012[2]. This rate is still relatively high compared to many other economically developed countries [1, 3].Teenage pregnancy and childbirth remains an important health and social issue in many countries including Australia due to its association with higher risk of maternal morbidity and mortality[4,5,6,7] and long-term psychological, social and economic consequences both for the young mother and her child[8,9,10]. Many of the available studies do not take into account a range of other potentially important confounding and mediating factors including parental socio-economic status, child birth weight, breastfeeding, and child rearing that may play a role in the relationship between teen parental age and lower offspring IQ
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