What do geeks, nerds … have in common? A study carried out by researchers at New King’s College in London (United Kingdom) suggests that the children of older parents are more intelligent, more focused on their interests and less concerned with fitting into society, that is, the characteristics that we normally associate with geeks. Thus, what they have in common is that most of them have older than average parents , hence their behavior.
Previous studies had concluded that children of older parents are at higher risk for autism and schizophrenia, among other things. However, the new research published in the journal Translational Psychiatry contributes that this data, the fact that children have older parents also implies certain advantages over others, in relation to education and their later work development.
Experts from King’s College London and Mount Sinai Icahn School of Medicine (USA) collected behavioral and cognitive data from 15,000 twin pairs within the Twins Early Development Study (TEDS).
When the children turned 12, they filled out a questionnaire based on a ‘geek index’. Based on the records of the twins, the scientists found that children born to older parents tended to score slightly higher on the geek index. For a father 25 years old or younger, the average score for the children was 39.6. For children with parents between the ages of 35-44, the score was 41. And for children with parents over 50 years of age, 47 points. This was the effect most evident, where the geek index rose about 1.5 points for every additional five years of paternal age.
The impact of the ‘geek index’ persisted after controlling for factors such as parents’ financial situation, qualifications and employment. In addition, they found that geek kids scored better on school tests, particularly science, technology, engineering and math , several years after having their geek score measured.
“Our study suggests that there may be some benefits associated with having an older father. We know the negative consequences of advanced paternal age, but now we have shown that these children may also have better educational and career prospects,” says Magdalena Janecka, co-author of the job.
One of the factors that would lead to having a geek child with greater job and educational prospects would be, for example, that older parents tend to have greater job and socioeconomic stability than younger parents, which would be equivalent to the possibility of better schools for their descendants and a more culturally enriched environment.
Reference: Advantageous developmental outcomes of advancing paternal age. Translational Psychiatry. June 2017. doi: 10.1038 / tp.2017.125
