ArticleBMJ open2026
Association between maternal age at childbirth and children's internalising problems in the USA: a cross-sectional mediation analysis of housing instability and family support using the 2022 National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH).
Article in BMJ open, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesThe optimal maternal age at childbirth has been a topic of bourgeoning literature, with earlier ages offering physiological benefits for maternal recovery. In contrast, later ages to give birth may provide psychological advantages due to greater emotional maturity. This study investigates the impact of maternal age at childbirth on children's internalising problems and explores the mediating roles of housing instability and family support in this relationship.
designCross-sectional study; mediation analysis of the 2022 National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH) data.
settingResponse in the 2022 NSCH in the USA.
participantsThis study is based on the 2022 NSCH, collecting a total of 54 103 completed surveys from randomly selected households across the USA. In this study, after excluding participants due to missing values in critical variables, 48 073 participants were included in the final analysis.
resultsOur findings are consistent with the hypothesis that increasing maternal age at childbirth is associated with lower children's internalising problems. Analysis suggested this association operates directly and is indirectly linked to child outcomes through lower levels of housing instability and higher levels of family support. However, a distinct indirect effect emerged: increased maternal age was also associated with reduced family support, which was in turn linked to more internalising problems. The results illuminate potential mechanisms linking maternal age at childbirth to children's internalising problems and underscore the importance of stable housing and family support in mitigating risk factors for children's emotional well-being.
conclusionWe found an association between advanced maternal age and fewer internalising problems in children. This relationship appears to operate directly and indirectly via a sequential pathway: higher maternal age correlates with lower housing instability, which in turn is associated with increased family support, ultimately correlating with improved child mental health outcomes.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.