About this Research Topic

Background

To demonstrate genetic and environmental determinants of psychological development, it is important to improve our understanding of neuropsychological problems etiology and to develop effective intervention strategies to prevent such disorders. Parental health is one of the most studied determinants as it captures both genetic and environmental factors. Previous studies have shown that maternal diseases, such as mental disorders, hypothyroidism, and obesity, have adverse influence on the neuropsychological outcomes in the offspring. Particularly, diseases that occur during pregnancy have biological effects on the neurodevelopment through intrauterine exposure. On the other hand, paternal impact is less studied, often discussed along with maternal impact and considered as a covariate to elucidate the relationships between maternal health and child neuropsychological outcomes. Nonetheless, paternal obesity has been associated with lower IQ and autism in the offspring, and paternal age at childbearing with child psychiatric morbidity.

Given the sparse research on paternal health effects in the research of child neuropsychology, it is important to gather new evidence and to provide a comprehensive picture on how paternal health affects the offspring’s neuropsychological outcomes during development, from preconception – an important window when germ cells can be affected leading to altered phenotypes in the next generation – to adolescence.

This Research Topic aims to provide an overview of both observational and experimental evidence for the impact of paternal health on the offspring’s psychological development. Paternal health includes father’s physical and mental health as well as involvement before and after child’s birth, particularly from the preconception period to childhood. Psychological development includes a wide range of outcomes, including but not limited to intelligence, emotional and behavioral problems (e.g., hyperactivity/inattention, autism-spectrum traits), perceptual abilities, motor abilities, verbal and non-verbal abilities, memory, peer relations problems, school performance, executive functions, psychosocial development, and personality, from infancy to adolescence. We are particularly interested in research using family and/or longitudinal design and methods that aims to unravel the mechanisms underlying the associations. Studies comparing paternal to maternal impact on the offspring are also welcome. Contributors can submit original research articles, reviews, mini reviews, and systematic reviews.

Image: Daiga Ellaby

Keywords: psychological development, fathers, parents, pregnancy, childhood, adolescence

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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