Aggressive behaviour in childhood and adolescence: the role of smoking during pregnancy, evidence from four twin cohorts in the EU-ACTION consortium

2019
BACKGROUND: Maternal smokingduring pregnancy(MSDP) has been linked to offspring's externalizing problems. It has been argued that socio-demographic factors (e.g. maternal age and education), co-occurring environmental risk factors, or pleiotropic genetic effects may account for the association between MSDP and later outcomes. This study provides a comprehensive investigation of the association between MSDP and a single harmonized component of externalizing: aggressivebehaviour, measured throughout childhood and adolescence. METHODS: Data came from four prospective twin cohorts - Twins Early Development Study, Netherlands Twin Register, Childhood and Adolescent Twin Studyof Sweden, and FinnTwin12 study - who collaborate in the EU-ACTION consortium. Data from 30 708 unrelated individuals were analysed. Based on item level data, a harmonized measureof aggressionwas created at ages 9-10; 12; 14-15 and 16-18. RESULTS: MSDP predicted aggressionin childhood and adolescence. A meta-analysis across the four samples found the independent effect of MSDP to be 0.4% (r = 0.066), this remained consistent when analyses were performed separately by sex. All other perinatal factors combined explained 1.1% of the variance in aggressionacross all ages and samples (r = 0.112). Paternal smoking and aggressiveparenting strategies did not account for the MSDP- aggressionassociation, consistent with the hypothesis of a small direct link between MSDP and aggression. CONCLUSIONS: Perinatal factors, including MSDP, account for a small portion of the variance in aggressionin childhood and adolescence. Later experiences may play a greater role in shaping adolescents' aggressivebehaviour.
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