London [UK]: Want happy families? Then delay your decision to start a family, as a study suggests, children born to older mother experience have fewer behavioural, social and emotional problems.
Experts at Aarhus University in Denmark suggest that older mothers are more likely to raise well-adjusted children and be less exasperated by the process.
The findings indicated that older mothers were less likely to scold their children and in turn have fewer behavioural, social and emotional problems.
The results, which were published in the European Journal of Developmental Psychology, could partly be explained by the fact older women are generally more solvent and self-assured.
“We know that people become more mentally flexible with age, are more tolerant of other people and thrive better emotionally themselves,” said study author Dion Sommer.
“That’s why psychological maturity may explain why older mothers do not scold and physically discipline their children as much,” Sommer added.
The team monitored 4,741 mothers and assessed their children repeatedly at ages seven, 11 and 15.
This was the case among children aged seven and 11, who had fewer social and emotional problems if their mothers were older, but the effect appeared to level off at age 15.
They found up until adolescence, the children’s grasp of language and social development improved as the age of their mother increased, regardless of factors including background, education and finances.
“This style of parenting can thereby contribute to a positive psycho social environment which affects the children’s upbringing,’ he explained.
The reason is believed to be the surge of hormones which flood the body in pregnancy, which have been found to affect the brain’s chemistry and function. (ANI)