Maternal smoking during pregnancy: risk factor for ADHD in the offspring?]

Laucht M, Schmidt MH.

Klinik fur Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie des Kindes- und Jugendalters des Zentralinstituts fur Seelische Gesundheit in Mannheim. laucht@zi-mannheim.de

OBJECTIVE: To examine the specifity of the association between maternal smoking during pregnancy and child behaviour problems. METHOD: In a prospective longitudinal study of a birth cohort of 362 children at risk parental tobacco use, cognitive and social-emotional child outcome and characteristics of family environment were assessed. RESULTS: About a quarter of mothers reported regular tobacco use during pregnancy. Children in this group exhibited enhanced rates of ADHD. This association held even after adjustment for a number of covariates. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that maternal smoking during pregnancy may represent an independent risk factor for ADHD in the offspring.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15357014&query_hl=2&itool=pubmed_docsum