Table 3.

Continued

Themes	Advantages of being an ‘older parent’	Related articles	Disadvantages of being an ‘older parent’	Related articles
Psychological aspects	Parents in general		Parents in general
	Increased sense of emotional preparedness Increased awareness of autism spectrum disorder in their offspring	Mac Dougall et al. (2012) Durkin et al. (2008)	Fear of social stigma	Mac Dougall et al. (2012)
	APA mothers		APA mothers
	Increased psychosocial wellbeing Increased sense of stability Increased sense of feeling wise Increased confidence and self-assurance Increased satisfaction about motherhood Increased sense of preparedness for parenting Increased appreciation of children Better mental functioning and less stress	George-Carey et al. (2021) Carolan (2005), Friese et al. (2008), and Meyer (2020) Meyer (2020) and Nelson (2004) Carolan (2005), Friese et al. (2008), and Nelson (2004) George-Carey et al. (2021) Carolan (2005), Mandel (2010), Meyer (2020), and Nelson (2004) Nelson (2004) Steiner and Paulson (2007)	Increased psychological distress in mothers with a history of depression Increased risk of depression Increased sense of vulnerability and loss of control Fear of social stigma Fear of loss of independence Increased concerns of staying young/healthy Poorer sleep quality In case MAR was used to conceive: insecurity on how to tell child how it was conceived	Aasheim et al. (2012) Boivin et al. (2009), Carolan (2003), and Muraca and Joseph (2014) Mandel (2010) Chen and Landau (2015), Friese et al. (2008), and Meyer (2020) Meyer (2020) and Nelson (2004) Carolan (2005), Friese et al. (2008), and Meyer (2020) Wen et al. (2018) Mandel (2010)
Family-functioning	Parents in general		Parents in general
	Stable relationship and functioning co-parenting Positive overall family experience	Mac Dougall et al. (2012)	Decreased physical energy Smaller family size Less lifetime with offspring Increased infertility and need to use IVF to conceive	Mac Dougall et al. (2012)
			APA mothers
			Perceived lack of energy Difficulty in transition to motherhood Perceived lack of family support Fear of not seeing grandchildren Lower social status and atypical relationship status	Carolan (2005) and Meyer (2020) Carolan (2003) Mandel (2010) and Meyer (2020) Friese et al. (2008) Nilsen et al. (2012)
Behavioural aspects	APA mothers
	Better health behaviour	Boivin et al. (2009)
Socio-economic aspects	Parents in general
	Increased financial security Work-time flexibility	Mac Dougall et al. (2012)
	APA mothers
	Increased professional security Increased financial security Better socio-economic position	Aasheim et al. (2012) Friese et al. (2008), Mandel (2010), and Meyer (2020) Boivin et al. (2009)

APA, advanced parental age; MAR, medically assisted reproduction.

^aThe study by Chen and Landau (2015) is a qualitative study based on interviews with APA mothers (see Table 2). However, since in their direct results, they also reported how APA mothers felt that their offspring were impacted, we still reported this result here for completeness. The authors state the following: “Participants perceived their children as feeling different from peers because of their mothers’ advanced age and its implications. Children were preoccupied with the possibility of losing their mother early. This, together with not having a sibling, aroused anxiety, yearning and loneliness among the children who were compelled to develop special coping strategies” (2015:29).