INTERACTION BETWEEN MATERNAL CIGARETTE-SMOKING AND APGAR SCORES IN PREDICTING OFFENDING BEHAVIOR

Research has shown that various perinatal conditions increase the like lihood of offending behavior; however, results have been mixed, but in teractions among perinatal risk factors in predicting offending behavi or have been neglected. The purpose was to examine the interaction of maternal cigarette smoking during pregnancy and 1-min. Apgar scores at birth in predicting individuals' later offending behavior. The longit udinal data set was taken from the Philadelphia portion of the Collabo rative Perinatal Project and consisted of 832 inner-city, African-Amer ican youths. A logistic regression analysis indicated that the combine d effect of maternal cigarette smoking and low Apgar scores had a sign ificant influence in predicting offending behavior, whereas the indepe ndent effects of the component variables did not.