{
  "abstract": "Objectives The 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.Design Cross-sectional study; mediation analysis of the 2022 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) data.Setting Response in the 2022 NSCH in the USA.Participants This 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.Results Our 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.Conclusion We 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.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Zhuhai College of Science and Technology, Zhuhai, Guangdong, China",
        "Department of Government and Public Administration, University of Macau, Faculty of Social Sciences, Taipa, Macao"
      ],
      "name": "Ming Milano Li"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Centre for Empirical Legal Studies, University of Macau Faculty of Law, Taipa, Macao"
      ],
      "name": "Dianshi Moses Li"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Centre for Empirical Legal Studies, University of Macau Faculty of Law, Taipa, Macao"
      ],
      "name": "Qinru Ruby Ju"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Centre for Empirical Legal Studies, University of Macau Faculty of Law, Taipa, Macao",
        "Centre for Data Science, University of Macau, Institute of Collaborative Innovation, Taipa, Macao"
      ],
      "name": "Yingjie Jay Zhao"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Centre for Empirical Legal Studies, University of Macau Faculty of Law, Taipa, Macao"
      ],
      "name": "Zhan Thor Tuo"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "School of Public Administration & Law, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China"
      ],
      "name": "Xiaoran Sarah Zhang"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Faculty of Law, Macau University of Science and Technology, Taipa, Macao"
      ],
      "name": "Jianhong Liu"
    }
  ],
  "title": "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)",
  "uid": "ff220c70-7db9-57e8-9980-5c9708fe205c"
}