Study: Smoking During Pregnancy Linked with ADHD [11/21-4]
Excerpts from: Smoking During Pregnancy Linked with ADHD
Health - Reuters
[11/20/03]
Women who smoke during pregnancy appear to have a greater risk of having a child
with symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according
to UK researchers.
Dr. Anita Thapar, of the University of Wales College of Medicine, and colleagues
used questionnaires to assess children's ADHD symptoms, maternal smoking during
pregnancy, conduct disorder symptoms, and family adversity, in a sample population
of 1452 pairs of twins.
Genetic factors accounted for most of the cases of ADHD, the investigators
report in the November issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry. However,
they also noted a significant association between smoking during pregnancy and
the development of ADHD symptoms in the children.
When the team re-evaluated the data, after taking into consideration the effects
of social adversity, birth weight, and antisocial symptom scores, maternal smoking
had a significant influence on the development of ADHD symptoms.
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