Smoking during pregnancy linked to child conduct disorder

[slimvictor]

Mothers who smoke during pregnancy are more likely to have children with conduct disorder (CD), according to a study published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.

The study, carried out by researchers at the University of Leicester in the UK, analyzed the relationship between smoking during pregnancy and the risk of the child developing CD.

CD is a behavioral problem where a child can become highly aggressive, antisocial and defiant.

There are two types of the disorder:

Early onset CD occurs when a child shows symptoms of the disorder before the age of 10, and is often associated to ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder)

Adolescent-onset is the most common type of this disorder, when the child shows CD symptoms after the age of 10. This often occurs alongside ADHD.

Researchers compared three studies for this latest research. The Christchurch Health and Development Study (CHDS), which includes biological and adopted children; the Early Growth and Development Study (EGDS), an adoption-at-birth study; and the Cardiff IVF (In Vitro Fertilization) Study (C-IVF), an adoption-at-conception study within genetically related families and genetically unrelated families.

The researchers looked at the levels of smoking during pregnancy, which were measured by the average number of cigarettes pregnant mothers smoked each day. This varied across all three studies.

Results revealed that children had a higher risk of developing CD if their mothers smoked during pregnancy, compared with mothers who did not smoke. This was the finding in both the children who were reared by genetically related mothers and those reared by genetically unrelated mothers.

Additionally, mothers who smoked more than 10 cigarettes a day had an even higher risk of their child developing CD.

cont at
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/263823.php

 

[slimvictor]

Thumbs down for expectant mothers who smoke.

Edit: I was referring to smoking tobacco specifically when I wrote that, but it is also far preferable not to smoke cannabis (though recent evidence makes it look like it may not harm the fetus much). Basically, pregnant women should avoid all drugs, as much as possible, for the sake of their babies. And, based on this article, for the sake of their own sanity for the next decade or two.

If a woman is "too stressed" to quit smoking when she gets pregnant, and her child grows us fucking wild, I would say that it came back to her.