Prenatal tobacco exposure associations with physical health and neurodevelopment in the ABCD cohort.

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the strength and reproducibility of the teratogenic impact of prenatal tobacco exposure (PTE) on child physical health and neurodevelopmental outcomes, in the context of intersecting sociodemographic and other prenatal correlates, and test if early postnatal health mediates PTE associations with childhood outcomes. Method: Among 9–10-year-olds (N = 8,803) in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study, linear mixed-effect models tested PTE associations with birth and childhood outcomes of physical health, cognitive performance, and brain structure, controlling for confounding sociodemographic and prenatal health correlates. Mediation analysis tested the extent to which health at birth explained the associations between PTE and childhood outcomes. Results: PTE was reported by 12% of mothers (8% [n = 738] pre-knowledge of pregnancy only, and 4% [n = 361] pre- and post-knowledge of pregnancy). PTE was highest for children with a risk for passive smoke exposure. Overall, children with any PTE had shorter breastfeeding durations than those without PTE, and PTE following knowledge of pregnancy was associated with being small for gestational age having lower birth weight, and obesity and lower cortical volume and surface area in childhood. Among children from high-parent education households, any PTE was related to lower cognitive performance, which was partially mediated by duration of breastfeeding. Conclusions: PTE was linked to poorer health indicators at birth and neurodevelopmental outcomes at age 9–10 years in a large community cohort, independent of sociodemographic factors. Efficacious interventions for smoking-cessation during pregnancy are still needed and should incorporate support for breastfeeding to promote healthier development.

Leveraging the adolescent brain cognitive development study to advance and promote adolescent health: Introduction to the special issue.

“…Three papers in this special issue focus on distinct aspects of adolescent substance use from both parental and youth perspectives (See M. R. Gonzalez et al, 2023, Pelham et al, 2023; Sanchez et al, 2023).…”

“…R. Gonzalez et al, 2023, Pelham et al, 2023; Sanchez et al, 2023). M. R. Gonzalez et al (2023) examined the effects of prenatal tobacco exposure on youth physical health and neurodevelopmental outcomes.…”

“…Three papers in this special issue focus on distinct aspects of adolescent substance use from both parental and youth perspectives (See M. R. Gonzalez et al, 2023Sanchez et al, 2023). M. R. Gonzalez et al (2023) examined the effects of prenatal tobacco exposure on youth physical health and neurodevelopmental outcomes.…”

“…Three papers in this special issue focus on distinct aspects of adolescent substance use from both parental and youth perspectives (See M. R. Gonzalez et al, 2023Sanchez et al, 2023). M. R. Gonzalez et al (2023) examined the effects of prenatal tobacco exposure on youth physical health and neurodevelopmental outcomes. They found that among children of highly educated parents, prenatal tobacco exposure was related to lower cognitive performance and that this relationship was partially mediated by the duration of breastfeeding.…”

Prenatal substance exposure and child health: Understanding the role of environmental factors, genetics, and brain development

“…Previous studies using the ABCD cohort have reported various child-health associations with PSE-caffeine ( 6 ), PSE-alcohol ( 7 ), PSE-tobacco ( 8 ), and PSE-marijuana ( 9 ). However, these studies considered different sets of context factors, making it challenging to compare the health association patterns among PSE to different substances.…”