Maternal smoking cessation and reduced academic and behavioral problems in offspring

Abstract

Background There is some debate whether smoking during pregnancy causes or is only a risk factor for negative academic outcomes and increased risk of psychopathology in offspring. This study evaluated whether maternal smoking cessation would reduce the risk of adverse outcomes in school-aged children. Methods Women completed an online survey that included items about child scholastic performance and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Mothers were divided based on pre-pregnancy and pregnancy smoking status into: 1) Nonsmokers (N=320); 2) Women that smoked in the three months preceding and throughout pregnancy (Smokers, N=83); and 3) Smoking before, but not during pregnancy (Quitters, N=72). Results The Smokers and Quitters groups each had lower education and incomes compared to Nonsmokers but were indistinguishable from each other on these measures. The offspring of Smokers were more likely (p<.05) to be behind their peers on standardized tests in math (27.8%) relative to both Nonsmokers (17.4%) and Quitters (13.0%) with similar findings for reading. Smokers reported more behavioral problems by their children in several areas including Hyperactivity and Impulsivity, Social problems, and Externalizing problems including Aggression and Rule-Breaking. Further, the children of Quitters had significantly fewer Attention and Externalizing problems than Smokers. These outcomes were observed even after accounting for the variance attributable to maternal education and several other potential confounds. Conclusions Together, these findings indicate that smoking cessation is associated with reduced risk of having children with academic and neuropsychological difficulties. These outcomes are discussed within the framework that nicotine may be a neurobehavioral teratogen.

Reliability and validity of Brief Problem Monitor, an abbreviated form of the Child Behavior Checklist

“…Data about paternal characteristics were not obtained in this initial study due to a desire to minimize the survey completion time for each participant. Information from items about maternal drug use and child outcomes is presented elsewhere . The last half of the survey consisted of the CBCL.…”

“…Do children diagnosed with ADHD, relative to the comparison group, show significant increases in attention problems?). As online research studies in child psychiatry are only gradually becoming more widely utilized, the prevalence of comorbidities was examined to determine if this dataset showed the expected patterns as has been identified with other methodologies . An alpha of < 0.05 was considered significant although statistics that met more conservative thresholds were noted.…”

Prenatal substance exposure: What predicts behavioral resilience by early adolescence?

“…IUCE is linked to adolescent substance use (Delaney-Black, Chiodo, Hannigan, Greenwald, Janisse, Patterson, Huestis, Patridge, et al, 2011; Frank et al, 2011; Richardson, Larkby, Goldschmidt, & Day, 2013), childhood externalizing behavior problems (Bennett, Marini, Berzenski, Carmody, & Lewis, 2013), inattention, and impulsivity (Richardson, Goldschmidt, Leech, & Willford, 2011). IUTE is associated with childhood and adolescent conduct disorder, externalizing behavior (Cornelius, Goldschmidt, De Genna, & Larkby, 2012; Piper, Gray, & Birkett, 2012; Stene-Larsen, Borge, & Vollrath, 2009), adolescent delinquent behaviors, and adult criminal behavior (Paradis, Fitzmaurice, Koenen, & Buka, 2011; Rantakallio, Laara, Isohanni, & Moilanen, 1992). IUAE correlates with attention difficulties (Mattson, Crocker, & Nguyen, 2011; Underbjerg et al, 2012), delinquent behaviors (Schonfeld, Mattson, & Riley, 2005), and higher rates of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) (Mattson, et al, 2011).…”

Executive Function and Mental Health in Adopted Children with a History of Recreational Drug Exposures

“…more problematic) ratings, primarily made by their biological parents, for emotional reactivity ( d = .16) and anxiety/depression ( d = .16) but no significant elevations at this age (3 and 5) in Attention or Externalizing problems [20] . There is also a large, albeit contentious, literature reviewed in [15] documenting CBCL elevations in the offspring of women that smoked but used other recreational drugs at low levels. For example, New Zealand toddlers whose mothers smoked cigarettes were more likely to be rated as having clinically significant Somatic (OR = 2.4) and Externalizing (OR = 1.8) problems [21] .…”

“…Similarly, Study II consisted of an Adoptive (N = 54) group and a Comparison group (N = 485) with biological mothers (N = 469) and biological fathers (N = 26). Please note that demographic information and child ratings from the biological mothers is reported elsewhere [8] , [15] . Unfortunately, given the use pattern of substances reported, as well as the occurrence of some children where the maternal history was unknown, made it impossible to create a subgroup of adopted children that were unexposed to alcohol, nicotine, or methamphetamine during pregnancy.…”