Older dads have 'geekier' sons
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/06/170620114143.htm
Older dads have 'geekier' sons
June 20, 2017 King's College London
Summary: Sons of older fathers are more intelligent, more focused on their interests and less concerned about fitting in, all characteristics typically seen in 'geeks,' suggests new British research.
New King's College London research suggests that sons of older fathers are more intelligent, more focused on their interests and less concerned about fitting in, all characteristics typically seen in 'geeks'.
While previous research has shown that children of older fathers are at a higher risk of some adverse outcomes, including autism and schizophrenia, this new study published in Translational Psychiatry suggests that children of older fathers may also have certain advantages over their peers in educational and career settings.
The researchers from King's College London and The Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in the United States collected behavioural and cognitive data from 15,000 UK-based twin pairs in the Twins Early Development Study (TEDS).
From original paper:
https://www.nature.com/tp/journal/v7/n6/full/tp2017125a.html
GI was also positively associated with specific STEM GCSEs’ performance indicators that were previously shown to be associated with future income.20, 28 These included: number of STEM GCSEs (?=0.01, P=9.78E?15) mean result in each STEM exam (?=0.01, P<2.2E?16) and probability of obtaining A and A* grades for at least two STEM subjects (odds ratio=1.04 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.03–1.04)). Overall, offspring of men >50 at conception were 32% more likely to achieve two greater than A grades compared to offspring of men aged <25 years. All analyses were adjusted for SES, sex and zygosity.
Comparing mean number of GCSEs in STEM and Art subjects taken by individuals with high/low levels of cognitive and behavioural components of GI further demonstrated that the benefits of high IQ are enhanced in the presence of other ‘geeky’ traits. ‘Geeks’ took more STEM, but not Art GCSEs, compared with (i) those scoring high on the cognitive measures only, (ii) those scoring high on the behavioural measures only and (iii) sample mean (Figure 1). Structural equation model confirmed positive association between latent ‘geek’ construct and school results (?=0.03, P<0.001).
= new reply since forum marked as read
But yes an older Dad will have more time to spend with his kids and it has a positive effect on them.
An older dad will have better understanding, wisdom and hopefully patience to share with young children.
My personal experience is that I grew up the oldest of 9 children. My dad was 25 when I was born, but he was about 52 when my youngest sister was born - 27 years later. The difference in his parenting skills was amazing to me and my most of my siblings. I believe my dad was closest to his youngest daughter and his heart was very mellow towards her. (He was a good dad but he was tough on us older kids when we were growing up.)
My original statement about boys is that boy's relationship with his dad can have a much greater affect whether positive or negative. Often the boy doesn't realize it until it's too late, but dad should make the effort in any case. It's part of being a good dad I think.
