Journal Article

Maternal smoking and offspring inattention and hyperactivity: results from a cross-national European survey

Pez, Ondine, Mihova, Zlatka, Fermanian, C., Pilowsky, Daniel J., Hamilton, Ava, Goelitz, Dietmar, Otten, Roy, Lesinskiene, Sigita, Kovess, Viviane, Koç, Ceren, Kuijpers, Rowella, Bitfoi, Adina, Keyes, Katherine M., Susser, Ezra

2015

Overview

In utero exposure to tobacco smoke is associated with adverse neonatal outcomes; the association with later childhood mental health outcomes remains controversial. We used a strategy involving comparison of maternal and paternal smoking reports in a sample pooling data from six diverse European countries. Data were drawn from mother ( N  = 4,517) and teacher ( N  = 4,611) reported attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms in school children aged 6–11 in Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Germany, and the Netherlands, surveyed in 2010. Mothers report on self and husband’s smoking patterns during the pregnancy period. Logistic regression used with control covariates including demographics, maternal distress, live births, region, and post-pregnancy smoking. In unadjusted models, maternal prenatal smoking was associated with probable ADHD based on mother [Odds Ratio (OR) = 1.82, 95 % Confidence Interval (CI) 1.45–2.29], teacher (OR = 1.69, 95 % CI 1.33–2.14) and mother plus teacher (OR = 1.49, 95 % CI 1.03–2.17) report. Paternal prenatal smoking was similarly associated with probable ADHD in unadjusted models. When controlled for relevant confounders, maternal prenatal smoking remained a risk factor for offspring probable ADHD based on mother report (OR = 1.44, 95 % CI 1.06–1.96), whereas the effect of paternal prenatal smoking diminished (e.g., mother report: OR = 1.17, 95 % CI 0.92–1.49). Drawing on data from a diverse set of countries across Europe, we document that the association between maternal smoking and offspring ADHD is stronger than that of paternal smoking during the pregnancy period and offspring ADHD. To the extent that confounding is shared between parents, these results reflect a potential intrauterine influence of smoking on ADHD in children.

• Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg,Springer Nature B.V,Springer Verlag (Germany)
• Subject: Adolescent / Adult / Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity - diagnosis / Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity - epidemiology / Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder / Births / Child / Child and Adolescent Psychiatry / Childhood / Children / Data / Demography / Epidemiology / Europe - epidemiology / Female / Health status / Humans / Hyperactivity / Hyperkinesis / Life Sciences / Male / Maternal Behavior - psychology / Maternal distress / Medicine / Medicine & Public Health / Mental health / Mothers / Mothers - statistics & numerical data / Odds Ratio / Original Contribution / Parents / Parents & parenting / Polls & surveys / Pregnancy / Prenatal care / Prenatal exposure / Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects - epidemiology / Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects - psychology / Psychiatry / Psychological distress / Reproducibility of Results / Risk Factors / Santé publique et épidémiologie / Siblings / Smoking / Smoking - adverse effects / Surveys and Questionnaires / Teachers / Tobacco / Tobacco smoke / Tobacco Smoke Pollution - adverse effects