LONDON, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Women are usually encouraged to have children as early in life as possible, yet a new study suggests that older mothers are more likely to raise happier and well-adjusted children.

The study, conducted by experts at Aarhus University in Demark, monitored 4,741 mothers in the country and assessed their children's behavior at the ages of 7, 11 and 15.

The findings, published in the European Journal of Developmental Psychology, indicated that older mothers generally resorted less to verbal and physical punishment than younger mothers did, and consequently, their children tended to have fewer behavioral, social and emotional problems than those of younger mothers.

"We know that people become more mentally flexible with age, are more tolerant of other people," Dion Sommer, author of the study, was quoted as saying.

"That's why psychological maturity may explain why older mothers do not scold and physically discipline their children as much," he added.

In a separate study, American researchers discovered that women can boost their brainpower if they have children when they are older, adding to the potential benefits of having a baby later in life.

In the United States, maternal age at the time of first birth has risen from 25 to 26 since 2000. In Denmark, the share of children born to women over 40 has quadrupled since 1985.