Motherhood after age 50: an evaluation of parenting stress and physical functioning.
OBJECTIVE
To explore parenting stress and physical functioning in women who conceive after the age of 50 years.


METHODS
Prospective cohort.


METHODS
University fertility center.


METHODS
Women who conceived and delivered after age 50 (n = 49) following egg donation were matched to women in their 40s (n = 49) and women in their 30s (n = 49) who conceived via assisted reproduction with a similar date of embryo transfer and gestational order.


METHODS
Questionnaires addressing parenting stress (Parenting Stress Index, short form) and physical and mental functioning (Version 2 of the SF-36 Health Survey).


METHODS
Norm-based scores for physical functioning, mental functioning, and total parenting stress (TS).


RESULTS
Women in their 50s showed a nonsignificant trend toward lower physical functioning scores compared with women in their 30s (54.8 +/- 4.1 vs. 56.9 +/- 4.3; P=.12) but higher mental functioning scores (53.6 +/- 7.3 vs. 50.1 +/- 7.0; P=.14). The percentage of subjects with high parenting stress (TS >80th percentile) varied between the groups but was not highest in the oldest (0%, 22%, and 6%, in the 30s, 40s, and 50s groups, respectively; P=.03). Adjustments for potential confounders did not alter the findings.


CONCLUSIONS
Our data do not support the hypothesis that mothers of advanced maternal age have reduced parenting capacity due to physical or mental ability or parenting stress.
Steiner
Anne Z
AZ
Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Sourthern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Paulson
Richard J
RJ
D000328:Adult; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro / Q000379:methods* / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008423:Maternal Age; D008875:Middle Aged; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires