Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-qxdb6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T20:09:49.448Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Maternal age at first birth and offspring criminality: Using the children of twins design to test causal hypotheses

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2013

Claire A. Coyne ,
Niklas Långström ,
Martin E. Rickert ,
Paul Lichtenstein  and
Brian M. D'Onofrio
Claire A. Coyne*
Affiliation:
Indiana University
Niklas Långström
Affiliation:
Karolinska Institutet
Martin E. Rickert
Affiliation:
Indiana University
Paul Lichtenstein
Affiliation:
Karolinska Institutet
Brian M. D'Onofrio
Affiliation:
Indiana University
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Claire A. Coyne, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, 1101 East 10th Street, Bloomington, IN 47405; E-mail: cacoyne@indiana.edu.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Teenage childbirth is a risk factor for poor offspring outcomes, particularly offspring antisocial behavior. It is not clear, however, if maternal age at first birth (MAFB) is causally associated with offspring antisocial behavior or if this association is due to selection factors that influence both the likelihood that a young woman gives birth early and that her offspring engage in antisocial behavior. The current study addresses the limitations of previous research by using longitudinal data from Swedish national registries and children of siblings and children of twins comparisons to identify the extent to which the association between MAFB and offspring criminal convictions is consistent with a causal influence and confounded by genetic or environmental factors that make cousins similar. We found offspring born to mothers who began childbearing earlier were more likely to be convicted of a crime than offspring born to mothers who delayed childbearing. The results from comparisons of differentially exposed cousins, especially born to discordant monozygotic twin sisters, provide support for a causal association between MAFB and offspring criminal convictions. The analyses also found little evidence for genetic confounding due to passive gene–environment correlation. Future studies are needed to replicate these findings and to identify environmental risk factors that mediate this causal association.

Type
Special Section Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 25 , Issue 1: Gene–Environment Correlation in Developmental Psychopathology , February 2013 , pp. 17 - 35
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alan Guttmacher Institute. (2010). U.S. teenage pregnancy statistics: National and state trends and trends by race and ethnicity. New York: Author.Google Scholar
Allison, P. D. (2006). Fixed effects regression methods in SAS. Paper presented at SUGI 31, San Francisco, CA.Google Scholar
Arseneault, L., Moffitt, T. E., Caspi, A., Taylor, P., & Silva, P. (2000). Mental disorders and violence in a total birth cohort: Results from the Dunedin Study. Archives of General Psychiatry, 57, 979–986.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Borkowski, J. G., Whitman, T. L., & Farris, J. R. (2007). Adolescent mothers and their children: Risks, resilience, and development. In Borkowski, J. G., Farris, J. R., Whitman, T. L., Carothers, S. S., Weed, K., & Keogh, D. A. (Eds.), Risk and resilience: Adolescent mothers and their children grow up (pp. 1–34). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Casares, W. N., Lahiff, M., Eskenazi, B., & Halpern-Felsher, B. L. (2010). Unpredicted trajectories: The relationship between race/ethnicity, pregnancy during adolescence and young women's outcomes. Journal of Adolescent Health, 47, 143–150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2011, April). Preventing teen pregnancy in the US. Atlanta: Author.Google Scholar
Chen, X.-K., Wen, S. W., Fleming, N., Demissie, K., Rhoads, G. G., & Walker, M. (2007). Teenage pregnancy and adverse birth outcomes: A large population-based retrospective cohort study. International Journal of Epidemiology, 36, 368–373.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Coley, R. L., & Chase-Lansdale, P. L. (1998). Adolescent pregnancy and parenthood: Recent evidence and future directions. American Psychologist, 53, 152–166.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Coyne, C. A., & D'Onofrio, B. M. (2012). Some (but not much) progress toward understanding teenage childbearing: A review of research from the past decade. Advances in Child Development and Behavior, 442, 113–152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coyne, C. A., Långström, N., Lichtenstein, P., & D'Onofrio, B. M. (2012b). Association between teenage motherhood and offspring criminality risk: National cohort study over 30 years. Manuscript submitted for publication.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Danielsson, M., Rogala, C., & Sundstrom, K. (2001). Teenage sexual and reproductive behavior in developed countries: Country report for Sweden. New York: Alan Guttmacher Institute.Google Scholar
Darroch, J. E., Singh, S., & Frost, J. J. (2001). Differences in teenage pregnancy rates among five developed countries: The roles of sexual activity and contraceptive use. Family Planning Perspectives, 33, 244–250.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
D'Onofrio, B. M. (2005). Children of twins design. In Everitt, B. S. & Howell, D. C. (Eds.), Encyclopedia of statistics in behavioral science (Vol. 1, pp. 256–258). Chichester, UK: Wiley.Google Scholar
D'Onofrio, B. M., Goodnight, J. A., Van Hulle, C. A., Rodgers, J. L., Rathouz, P. J., Waldman, I. D., et al. (2009). Maternal age at childbirth and offspring disruptive behaviors: Testing the causal hypothesis. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 50, 1018–1028.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
D'Onofrio, B. M., Singh, A. L., Iliadou, A., Lambe, M., Hultman, C. M., Neiderhiser, J. M., et al. (2010). A quasi-experimental study of maternal smoking during pregnancy and offspring academic achievement. Child Development, 81, 80–100.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
D'Onofrio, B. M., Turkheimer, E., Eaves, L. J., Corey, L. A., Berg, K., & Solaas, M. H. (2003). The role of children of twins design in elucidating causal relations between parent characteristics and child outcomes. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 44, 1130–1144.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
D'Onofrio, B. M., Turkheimer, E., Emery, R. E., Maes, H. H., Silberg, J., & Eaves, L. J. (2007). A children of twins study of parental divorce and offspring psychopathology. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 48, 667–675.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
D'Onofrio, B. M., Turkheimer, E., Emery, R. E., Slutske, W. S., Heath, A. C., Madden, P. A., et al. (2005). A genetically informed study of marital instability and its association with offspring psychopathology. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 114, 570–586.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Donovan, S. J., & Susser, E. (2011). Commentary: Advent of sibling designs. International Journal of Epidemiology, 40, 345–349.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eaves, L. J., Silberg, J., & Maes, H. H. (2005). Revisiting the children of twins: Can they be used to resolve the environmental effects of dyadic parental treatment on child behavior? Twin Research, 8, 283–290.Google ScholarPubMed
Ekeus, C., Christensen, K., & Hjern, A. (2004). Unintentional and violent injuries among pre-school children of teenage mothers in Sweden: A national cohort study. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 58, 680–685.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fazel, S., & Grann, M. (2006). The population impact of severe mental illness on violent crime. American Journal of Psychiatry, 163, 1397–1403.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fazel, S., Långström, N., Hjern, A., Grann, M., & Lichtenstein, P. (2009). Schizophrenia, substance abuse, and violent crime. Journal of the American Medical Association, 301, 2016–2023.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fergusson, D. M., & Woodward, L. J. (1999). Maternal age and educational and psychosocial outcomes in early adulthood. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 40, 479–489.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Geronimus, A. T., Korenman, S., & Hillemeier, M. M. (1994). Does young maternal age adversely affect child development? Evidence from cousin comparisons in the United States. Population and Development Review, 20, 585–609.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harden, K. P., Lynch, S. K., Turkheimer, E., Emery, R. E., D'Onofrio, B. M., Slutske, W. S., et al. (2007). A behavior genetic investigation of adolescent motherhood and offspring mental health problems. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 116, 667–683.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Heath, A. C., Kendler, K. S., Eaves, L. J., & Markell, D. (1985). The resolution of cultural and biological inheritance: Informativeness of different relationships. Behavior Genetics, 15, 439–465.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hoffman, S. (2006). By the numbers: The public costs of teen childbearing. Washington, DC: National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.Google Scholar
Jaffee, S., Caspi, A., Moffitt, T. E., Belsky, J., & Silva, P. (2001). Why are children born to teen mothers at risk for adverse outcomes in young adulthood? Results from a 20-year longitudinal study. Development and Psychopathology, 13, 377–397.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jaffee, S., Strait, L., & Odgers, C. L. (2012). From correlates to causes: Can quasi-experimental studies and statistical innovations bring us closer to identifying the causes of antisocial behavior? Psychological Bulletin, 138, 272–295.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kost, K., Henshaw, S., & Carlin, L. (2010). U.S. teenage pregnancies, births and abortions: National and state trends and trends by race and ethnicity. New York: Alan Guttmacher Institute.Google Scholar
Lahey, B. B., & D'Onofrio, B. M. (2010). All in the family: Comparing siblings to test causal hypotheses regarding environmental influences on behavior. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 19, 319–323.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lahey, B. B., Moffitt, T. E., & Caspi, A. (Eds.). (2003). Causes of conduct disorder and juvenile delinquency. New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Lambe, M., Hultman, C. M., Torrang, A., MacCabe, J., & Cnattingius, S. (2006). Maternal smoking during pregnancy and school performance at age 15. Epidemiology, 17, 524–530.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Långström, N., Grann, M., Ruchkin, V., Sjöstedt, G., & Fazel, S. (2009). Risk factors for violent offending in autism spectrum disorder: A national study of risk factors among hospitalized individuals. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 24, 1358–1370.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Levine, J. A., Emery, C. R., & Pollack, H. (2007). The well-being of children born to teen mothers. Journal of Marriage and Family, 69, 105–122.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lichtenstein, P., De Faire, U., Floderus, B., Svartengren, M., Svedberg, P., & Pederson, N. L. (2002). The Swedish Twin Registry: A unique resource for clinical, epidemiological and genetic studies. Journal of Internal Medicine, 252, 184–205.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lichtenstein, P., Sullivan, P. F., Cnattingius, S., Gatz, M., Johansson, S., Carlstrom, E., et al. (2006). The Swedish Twin Registry in the third millennium: An update. Twin Research and Human Genetics, 9, 875–882.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mersky, J. P., & Reynolds, A. J. (2007). Predictors of early childbearing: Evidence from the Chicago longitudinal study. Children and Youth Services Review, 29, 35–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nagin, D. S., Pogarsky, G., & Farrington, D. P. (1997). Adolescent mothers and the criminal behavior of their children. Law & Society Review, 31, 137–162.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Olausson, P. O., Haglund, B., & Weitoft, G. R. (2001). Teenage childbearing and long-term socioeconomic consequences: A case study in Sweden. Family Planning Perspectives, 33, 70–74.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Olausson, P. O., Haglund, B., Weitoft, G. R., & Cnattingius, S. (2004). Premature death among teenage mothers. International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 111, 793–799.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pogarsky, G., Lizotte, A. J., & Thornberry, T. P. (2003). The delinquency of children born to young mothers: Results from the Rochester Youth Development Study. Criminology, 41, 1249–1286.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pogarsky, G., Thornberry, T. P., & Lizotte, A. J. (2006). Developmental outcomes for children of young mothers. Journal of Marriage and Family, 68, 332–344.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rodgers, J. L., Bard, D. E., & Miller, W. B. (2007). Multivariate Cholesky models of human female fertility patterns in the NLSY. Behavior Genetics, 37, 345–361.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rutter, M. (2007). Gene–environment interplay and developmental psychopathology. New York: Taylor & Francis/Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Rutter, M., Belsky, J., Brown, G., Dunn, J., D'Onofrio, B., Eekelaar, J., et al. (2010). Social sciences and family policies. London: British Academy Policy Centre.Google Scholar
Rutter, M., Pickles, A., Murray, R., & Eaves, L. (2001). Testing hypotheses on specific environmental causal effects on behavior. Psychological Bulletin, 127, 291–324.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rutter, M., Silberg, J., & Simonoff, E. (1993). Whither behavioral genetics? A developmental psychopathological perspective. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Santelli, J., Sandfort, T., & Orr, M. (2008). Transnational comparisons of adolescent contraceptive use: What can we learn from these comparisons? Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 162, 92–94.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Scarr, S., & McCartney, K. (1983). How people make their own environments: A theory of genotype ⇒ environment effects. Child Development, 54, 424–435.Google Scholar
Shadish, W. R., Cook, T. D., & Campbell, D. T. (2002). Experimental and quasi-experimental designs for generalized causal inference. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cenage Learning.Google Scholar
Silberg, J., & Eaves, L. J. (2004). Analyzing the contribution of genes and parent–child interaction to childhood behavioral and emotional problems: A model for the children of twins. Psychological Medicine, 34, 347–356.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Singh, S., & Darroch, J. E. (2000). Adolescent pregnancy and childbearing: Levels and trends in developed countries. Family Planning Perspectives, 32, 14–23.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
South, S. J., & Crowder, K. (2010). Neighborhood poverty and nonmarital fertility: Spatial and temporal dimensions. Journal of Marriage and Family, 72, 89–104.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Statistics Sweden. (2004). Utbildningsregistret. Retrieved from http://www.scb.se/statistik/UF/UF0506/_dokument/UF0506_DO_2004.pdfGoogle Scholar
Statistics Sweden. (2006). Multi-Generation Register 2005: A description of contents and quality. Statistics Sweden, Background Facts. Retrieved from http://www.scb.se/statistik/_publikationer/BE9999_2005A01_BR_BE96ST0606.pdfGoogle Scholar
Turley, R. N. L. (2003). Are children of young mothers disadvantaged because of their mother's age or family background? Child Development, 74, 465–474.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Whitman, T. L., Borkowski, J. G., Keogh, D. A., & Weed, K. (2001). Interwoven lives: Adolescent mothers and their children. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woodward, L. J., & Fergusson, D. M. (1999). Childhood peer relationship problems and psychosocial adjustment in late adolescence. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 27, 87–104.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Xie, H., Cairns, B. D., & Cairns, R. B. (2001). Predicting teen motherhood and teen fatherhood: Individual characteristics and peer affiliations. Social Development, 10, 488–509.CrossRefGoogle Scholar