TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2015//
TI  - Moderate alcohol drinking in pregnancy increases risk for children's persistent conduct problems: causal effects in a Mendelian randomisation study
JO  - Journal of child psychology and psychiatry
A1  - Murray, Joseph
A1  - Burgess, Stephen
A1  - Zuccolo, Luisa
A1  - Hickman, Matthew
A1  - Gray, Ron
A1  - Lewis, Sarah J.
SP  - 575
EP  - 584
VL  - 57
IS  - 5
N2  - BACKGROUND: Heavy alcohol use during pregnancy can cause considerable developmental problems for children, but effects of light-moderate drinking are uncertain. This study examined possible effects of moderate drinking in pregnancy on children's conduct problems using a Mendelian randomisation design to improve causal inference. <br><br>METHODS: A prospective cohort study (ALSPAC) followed children from their mother's pregnancy to age 13 years. Analyses were based on 3,544 children whose mothers self-reported either not drinking alcohol during pregnancy or drinking up to six units per week without binge drinking. Children's conduct problem trajectories were classified as low risk, childhood-limited, adolescence-onset or early-onset-persistent, using six repeated measures of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire between ages 4-13 years. Variants of alcohol-metabolising genes in children were used to create an instrumental variable for Mendelian randomisation analysis. <br><br>RESULTS: Children's genotype scores were associated with early-onset-persistent conduct problems (OR = 1.29, 95% CI = 1.04-1.60, p = .020) if mothers drank moderately in pregnancy, but not if mothers abstained from drinking (OR = 0.94, CI = 0.72-1.25, p = .688). Children's genotype scores did not predict childhood-limited or adolescence-onset conduct problems. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: This quasi-experimental study suggests that moderate alcohol drinking in pregnancy contributes to increased risk for children's early-onset-persistent conduct problems, but not childhood-limited or adolescence-onset conduct problems.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0021-9630
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12486
ID  - ref1
ER  -