Behavioral problems may derive from maternal smoking Source: British Journal of Psychiatry 2005; 187: 155-60
Investigating whether the observed link between maternal smoking and antisocial behavior in offspring is mediated by attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Smoking during pregnancy significantly raises the risk of antisocial behavior in the child, independently of its influence on attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), UK research suggests.
While the association between delinquency and maternal prenatal smoking has long been recognized, whether antisocial behavior is linked to smoking during pregnancy independently, or as a result of ADHD, has remained unknown, explains the team, led by Dr Tanya Button from the Institute of Psychiatry in London.
To address this issue, they studied questionnaires evaluating antisocial behaviors and symptoms of ADHD completed by the parents of 723 identical and 1173 non-identical pairs of twins, who took part in the Cardiff Study of All Wales and North West England Twins.
In all, 29.1 percent of the mothers reported smoking during pregnancy. Such smoking was found to affect children's scores for both antisocial behavior and ADHD, with average scores increasing with the number of cigarettes smoked per day. When fitting bivariate models to the data, the team found the best fit with a model in which maternal smoking had a specific, independent influence on each phenotype.
Offering possible explanations for the findings, Dr Button suggested that the nicotine absorbed during smoking might impair fetal brain development, leading to neurological impairment, or that the effects of smoking could be mediated by a reduction in the level of oxygen reaching the fetus.
Posted: 2 August 2005 Leanne Wynne Midwife in charge of "Women's Business" Mildura Aboriginal Health Service Mob 0418 371862 -- This mailing list is sponsored by ACE Graphics. Visit <http://www.acegraphics.com.au> to subscribe or unsubscribe.
