Smoking During Pregnancy Linked with ADHD

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.

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. “Our findings extend previous work by being the first to demonstrate that the association of prenatal smoking with ADHD remains even when the…genetic contribution to ADHD symptoms is included, ” Thapar and colleagues conclude. (Source: MEDline Plus, Reuters, American Journal of Psychiatry, November 2003.)