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Using a Comparative Species Approach to Investigate the Neurobiology of Paternal Responses
07:59

Using a Comparative Species Approach to Investigate the Neurobiology of Paternal Responses

Published on: September 19, 2011

Advancing paternal age and offspring violent offending: a sibling-comparison study

Ralf Kuja-Halkola1, Yudi Pawitan, Brian M D'Onofrio

  • 1Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, P.O. Box 281, Stockholm 171 77, Sweden. ralf.kuja-halkola@ki.se

Development and Psychopathology
|July 12, 2012
PubMed

Insights

Older fathers may increase offspring risk for violent crime, potentially due to genetic mutations. This association appears stronger for persistent offending, suggesting a biological link.

Area of Science:

  • Psychiatry
  • Criminology
  • Genetics

Background:

  • Advanced paternal age is linked to increased risk of severe psychopathology in offspring, possibly due to de novo mutations.
  • Severe psychopathology is often correlated with antisocial behavior, prompting investigation into paternal age and offspring violence.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine the association between advancing paternal age and violent offending in offspring.
  • To differentiate between general and persistent violent offending in relation to paternal age.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized interlinked Swedish national registers for data on fathers' age at childbirth and offspring violent criminal convictions (1958-1979).
  • Employed within-family analyses comparing differentially exposed siblings to control for shared genetic and environmental factors.
  • Assessed violent offending using indices of ever committing a violent crime and the number of violent crimes.

Main Results:

  • Advancing paternal age was associated with increased offspring violent crime in the overall population.
  • Within-family analyses confirmed the association for the rate of violent crime, suggesting a causal link.
  • However, within-family analyses revealed no association between paternal age and ever committing a violent crime, indicating confounding by shared sibling factors.

Conclusions:

  • The findings support a biological etiology, likely de novo mutations, for persistent violent offending linked to advancing paternal age.
  • Shared familial factors (genetic and environmental) may confound the association between paternal age and less persistent forms of violent offending.

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