Smoking in pregnancy tied to kids’ behavior issues
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There seems to be a link between maternal smoking during pregnancy and behavioral problems in preschool-age children.
A study published in the journal Child Development found that two-year-olds whose mothers smoked regularly while they were pregnant were significantly more likely to exhibit an abnormal pattern of behavior over time compared to age-matched toddlers who were not exposed to cigarette smoke before birth.
While many toddlers exhibit mild behavioral problems during the “terrible twos,” the behavior problems of cigarette-exposed toddlers significantly increased between 18 and 24 months of age compared to the milder, more stable patterns of non-exposed toddlers.
“These findings suggest that for some children the roots of problem behavior may occur before they are born,” said Lauren Wakschlag, of the University of Illinois at Chicago and lead author of the study.
Wakschlag and colleagues studied 93 children between 12 and 24 months of age. Forty-four children were exposed to cigarette smoke before birth. Nearly half of mothers who smoked during pregnancy smoked more than half-a-pack a day.
The Chicago team observed markedly different behavior patterns among cigarette-exposed and non-exposed toddlers. Exposed toddlers exhibited “escalating externalizing problems” from 18 to 24 months of age and had difficulty modulating their behavior in response to social cues.
“This is in contrast to the non-exposed toddlers in whom externalizing behaviors exhibited a plateau or decline that is typical of this developmental period,” Wakschlag’s team notes.
Compared with non-exposed kids, those born to smoking mothers exhibited “qualitatively different behaviors,” according to the authors. They displayed increased levels of stubborn defiance, aggression, and had poorer social skills.
The current findings “expand upon consistent evidence” that maternal smoking during pregnancy is associated with increased likelihood of kids having behavioral problems. It does not, however, prove that smoking during pregnancy causes these problems.
SOURCE: Child Development, July/August 2006.
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