Publications
Context: A number of studies report an association between maternal smoking during pregnancy and offspring conduct disorder. However, past research evidences difficulty disaggregating prenatal environmental from genetic and postnatal environmental influences.
Objective: To examine the relationship between maternal smoking during pregnancy and offspring conduct problems among children reared by genetically-related and genetically-unrelated mothers.
Design, Setting and Participants: Three studies employing distinct but complementary research designs were utilized: The Christchurch Health and Development Study (a longitudinal cohort study that includes biological and adopted children), the Early Growth and Development Study (a longitudinal adoption at birth study), and the Cardiff IVF Study (genetically-related and -unrelated families; an adoption at conception study). Maternal smoking during pregnancy was measured as the average number of cigarettes/day (0, 1-9 or 10+) smoked during pregnancy. A number of possible covariates (child gender, ethnicity, birth weight, breast feeding, maternal age at birth, maternal education, family SES, family breakdown, placement age, and parenting practices) were controlled in the analyses.
Main Outcome Measure: Child conduct problems (age 4-10 years) reported by parents and/or teachers using the Rutter and Conners behaviour scales, the Child Behavior Checklist and Children's Behavior Questionnaire, and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire.
Results: A significant association between maternal smoking during pregnancy and child conduct problems was observed among children reared by genetically-related and genetically-unrelated mothers, highlighting the role of intrauterine (genetic and prenatal environmental) influences. Results from a meta-analysis affirmed this pattern of findings across pooled study samples.
Conclusions: Findings across the three studies using a complement of genetically-sensitive research designs highlight the role of smoking during pregnancy as a prenatal risk factor for offspring conduct problems, when specific perinatal and postnatal confounding factors are controlled.
