Prenatal and Postnatal Maternal Trajectories of Cigarette Use Predict Adolescent Cigarette Use

Conclusions: This is the first study to examine trajectories of maternal cigarette use from pregnancy to 16 years postpartum, linking prenatal and postnatal patterns of maternal use to use in adolescent offspring. Our findings highlight the risk associated with prenatal exposure, because mothers who used during pregnancy but quit by 6 years postpartum still had offspring who were 3.5 times more likely to smoke than non/infrequent users. Implications: This is the first study to examine trajectories of maternal cigarette use from the prenatal period to 16 years postpartum, and to link prenatal and postnatal patterns of use to use in adolescent offspring. We identified two long-term patterns of maternal cigarette use that were associated with offspring smoking at age 16, including one where offspring were exposed prenatally, but much less likely to be exposed to maternal cigarette use postpartum. Our findings highlight the risk associated with prenatal exposures for cigarette use in offspring, even if mothers quit in the postpartum.
Source: Nicotine and Tobacco Research - Category: Addiction Authors: Tags: Brief Report Source Type: research