scholarly journals Using a cross-cohort comparison design to test the role of maternal smoking in pregnancy in child mental health and learning: evidence from two UK cohorts born four decades apart

2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 390-399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Sellers ◽  
Naomi Warne ◽  
Frances Rice ◽  
Kate Langley ◽  
Barbara Maughan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Birth Weight ◽  
Conduct Problems ◽  
Maternal Smoking ◽  
Birth Parents ◽  
Child Conduct Problems ◽  
Smoking In Pregnancy ◽  
Child Conduct ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
In Pregnancy

Abstract Background Maternal smoking in pregnancy is associated with low birth weight (LBW), child conduct problems, hyperactivity and lower cognitive attainment, but associations may reflect measured and unmeasured confounding. Cross-cohort designs can aid causal inference through comparison of associations across populations with different confounding structures. We compared associations between maternal smoking in pregnancy and child conduct and hyperactivity problems, cognition and LBW across two cohorts born four decades apart. Methods Two national UK cohorts born in 1958 (n = 12 415) and 2000/01 (n = 11 800) were compared. Maternal smoking in pregnancy and child birth weight was assessed at or shortly after birth. Parents rated children’s conduct problems and hyperactivity, and children completed standardized tests of reading and mathematics. Results Maternal smoking in pregnancy was less common and more strongly associated with social disadvantage in 2000/01 compared with 1958 (interactions P < 0.001). Maternal smoking in pregnancy was robustly and equivalently associated with infant LBW in both cohorts [interactions: boys odds ratio (OR) = 1.01 (0.89, 1.16), P = 0.838; girls OR = 1.01 (0.91, 1.17), P = 0.633]. Maternal smoking was more strongly associated with conduct problems, hyperactivity and reading in the 2000/01 cohort (interactions P < 0.001). Conclusions Marked cross-cohort change in associations between maternal smoking and child conduct problems, hyperactivity and reading highlights the likely role of confounding factors. In contrast, association with LBW was unaffected by change in prevalence of maternal smoking and patterns of confounding. The study highlights the utility of cross-cohort designs in helping triangulate conclusions about the role of putative causal risk factors in observational epidemiology.

scholarly journals Maternal Attachment Status, Mother-Child Emotion Talk, Emotion Understanding, and Child Conduct Problems

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brad M. Farrant ◽  
Murray T. Maybery ◽  
Janet Fletcher
Keyword(s):  
Conduct Problems ◽  
Emotion Understanding ◽  
Maternal Attachment ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Child Conduct Problems ◽  
Children's Emotion ◽  
Child Conduct ◽  
Developmental Role ◽  
Emotion Talk

Conduct problems that emerge in childhood often persist into adolescence and are associated with a range of negative outcomes. It is therefore important to identify the factors that predict conduct problems in early childhood. The present study investigated the relations among maternal attachment status, mother-child emotion talk, child emotion understanding, and conduct problems in a sample of 92 (46 males) typically developing children (M age = 61.3 months, SD = 8.3 months). The results support a model in which maternal attachment status predicts the level of appropriate/responsive mother-child emotion talk, which predicts child emotion understanding, which in turn negatively predicts child conduct problems. These findings further underline the developmental role of mother-child emotion talk as well as the importance of involving parents in programs designed to increase children’s emotion understanding and/or decrease the incidence of conduct problems.

scholarly journals Identifying the contribution of prenatal risk factors to offspring development and psychopathology: What designs to use and a critique of literature on maternal smoking and stress in pregnancy

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 1107-1128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frances Rice ◽  
Kate Langley ◽  
Christopher Woodford ◽  
George Davey Smith ◽  
Anita Thapar
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ◽  
Conduct Problems ◽  
Maternal Smoking ◽  
Causal Effect ◽  
Hyperactivity Disorder ◽  
Smoking In Pregnancy ◽  
Prenatal Risk ◽  
Prenatal Risk Factors ◽  
In Pregnancy

AbstractIdentifying prenatal environmental factors that have genuinely causal effects on psychopathology is an important research priority, but it is crucial to select an appropriate research design. In this review we explain why and what sorts of designs are preferable and focus on genetically informed/sensitive designs. In the field of developmental psychopathology, causal inferences about prenatal risks have not always been based on evidence generated from appropriate designs. We focus on reported links between maternal smoking during pregnancy and offspring attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder or conduct problems. Undertaking a systematic review of findings from genetically informed designs and “triangulating” evidence from studies with different patterns of bias, we conclude that at present findings suggest it is unlikely that there is a substantial causal effect of maternal smoking in pregnancy on either attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder or conduct problems. In contrast, for offspring birth weight (which serves as a positive control) findings strongly support a negative causal effect of maternal smoking in pregnancy. For maternal pregnancy stress, too few studies use genetically sensitive designs to draw firm conclusions, but continuity with postnatal stress seems important. We highlight the importance of moving beyond observational designs, for systematic evaluation of the breadth of available evidence and choosing innovative designs. We conclude that a broader set of prenatal risk factors should be examined, including those relevant in low- and middle-income contexts. Future directions include a greater use of molecular genetically informed designs such as Mendelian randomization to test causal hypotheses about prenatal exposure and offspring outcome.

scholarly journals Is low birth weight in the causal pathway of the association between maternal smoking in pregnancy and higher BMI in the offspring?

2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 413-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Beyerlein ◽  
Simon Rückinger ◽  
André Michael Toschke ◽  
Angelika Schaffrath Rosario ◽  
Rüdiger von Kries
Keyword(s):  
Birth Weight ◽  
Low Birth Weight ◽  
Maternal Smoking ◽  
Smoking In Pregnancy ◽  
Causal Pathway ◽  
In Pregnancy

scholarly journals Cigarette Smoking in Pregnancy: Its Influence on Birth Weight and Perinatal Mortality

BMJ ◽  
1972 ◽  
Vol 2 (5806) ◽  
pp. 127-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. R. Butler ◽  
H. Goldstein ◽  
E. M. Ross
Keyword(s):  
Birth Weight ◽  
Cigarette Smoking ◽  
Perinatal Mortality ◽  
Smoking In Pregnancy ◽  
In Pregnancy
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