BACKGROUND Despite extensive efforts, the causes of autism remain unknown. Advancing paternal age has been associated with various neurodevelopmental disorders. We aim to investigate three unresolved questions: (a) What is the association between paternal age and autism spectrum disorders (ASD)?; (b) Does paternal age moderate the genetic and environmental etiological factors for ASD? (c) Does ...

In most species, males do not abandon offspring or reduce paternal care when they are cuckolded by other males. This apparent lack of adjustment of paternal investment with the likelihood of paternity presents a potential challenge to our understanding of what drives selection for paternal care. In a comparative analysis across birds, fish, mammals, and insects we identify key factors that expl...

BACKGROUND The role of fathers in the development of obesity in their offspring remains poorly understood. We evaluated associations of missing paternal demographic information on birth certificates with perinatal risk factors for childhood obesity. METHODS Data were from the Linked CENTURY Study, a database linking birth certificate and well-child visit data for 200,258 Massachusetts childre...

OBJECTIVE To explore the association between maternal and paternal age and risk of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) in offspring. DESIGN Historical birth cohort study. SETTING Kaiser Permanente (KP) in Northern California. PARTICIPANTS All singleton children born at KP from January 1, 1995, to December 31, 1999, were included in the study. We identified 593 children who had ASD diagnoses ...

Both maternal and paternal disease history can be important predictors of the risk of common conditions such as heart disease or cancer because of shared environmental and genetic risk factors. Sometimes maternal and paternal history can have remarkably different effects on offspring's status. The results are often affected by how the maternal and paternal disease histories are quantified. We p...

Mutations or deletions of the maternal allele of the UBE3A gene cause Angelman syndrome (AS), a severe neurodevelopmental disorder. The paternal UBE3A/Ube3a allele becomes epigenetically silenced in most neurons during postnatal development in humans and mice; hence, loss of the maternal allele largely eliminates neuronal expression of UBE3A protein. However, recent studies suggest that paterna...

BACKGROUND The purpose was to examine the association between paternal race/ethnicity and very low birth weight stratified by maternal race/ethnicity. METHODS Birth data for Tarrant County, Texas 2006-2010 were analyzed. Very low birth weight was dichotomized as yes (<1,500 g) and no (≥1,500 g). Paternal race/ethnicity was categorized as Caucasian, African American, Hispanic, other, and missi...

The postpartum period is associated with many adjustments to fathers that pose risks for depression. Estimates of the prevalence of paternal postpartum depression (PPD) in the first two months postpartum vary in the postpartum period from 4 to 25 percent. Paternal PPD has high comorbidity with maternal PPD and might also be associated with other postpartum psychiatric disorders. Studies so far ...