Maternal smoking during pregnancy and psychopathology in offspring followed to adulthood

Objective: To extend findings from several independent reports of an associ ation between maternal smoking during pregnancy and attention-deficit hyper activity disorder, conduct disorder, and substance abuse in the offspring. Method: This is a IO-year longitudinal study of offspring assessed at 3 poi nts in time into adulthood. Fifty offspring of mothers who reported smoking at least 10 cigarettes almost daily during pregnancy and 97 offspring of m others who reported never smoking during pregnancy were studied. Psychiatri c diagnosis in offspring was assessed blind to parental diagnosis. Results: There was a greater than 4-fold increased risk of prepubertal-onset conduc t disorder in boys and a greater than 5-fold increased risk of adolescent-o nset drug dependence in girls whose mothers smoked 10 or more cigarettes al most daily during pregnancy. These findings could not be explained by mater nal substance abuse during pregnancy, parental psychiatric diagnosis, famil y risk factors, prenatal and early developmental history of offspring, post natal maternal smoking, or smoking in the offspring. Conclusions: Maternal smoking during pregnancy may have a long-term effect on specific psychopath ology in offspring. The underlying pathophysiology of nicotine on the fetus requires study. The findings suggest the importance of programs aimed at s moking prevention and cessation in women during pregnancy.