This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Reply to article  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on Web of Science (35)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Public Health  • Substance Abuse/ Alcoholism  • Women's Health  • Pregnancy and Breast Feeding  • Alert me on articles by topic  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

A Birth Cohort Study

Rosa Alati, PhD; Abdullah Al Mamun, PhD; Gail M. Williams, PhD; Michael O’Callaghan, MD; Jake Moses Najman, PhD; William Bor, MD

Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2006;63:1009-1016.

Context  Little is known about the contribution of fetal alcohol exposure to the development of alcohol disorders in early adulthood.

Objective  To examine the independent effect of maternal alcohol use during early vs late periods in pregnancy on the time of onset of alcohol disorders in offspring.

Design  Follow-up study of the Mater–University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy and Its Outcomes (MUSP), a population-based birth cohort study commenced in Brisbane, Australia, in 1981 and designed to examine the association of maternal alcohol exposure with the onset of alcohol disorders. Mothers and children were followed up at birth, 6 months, and 5, 14, and 21 years after the initial interview. Maternal alcohol use was assessed before pregnancy, in early and late pregnancy, and at the 5- and 14-year follow-up visits. Alcohol disorders in early adulthood were assessed at age 21 years using the lifetime version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview–computerized version.

Setting  Population-based birth cohort study.

Participants  A subsample of 2138 participants for whom complete data were available at the 21-year follow-up.

Main Outcome Measure  Onset of alcohol disorder from adolescence to 21 years of age.

Results  In utero alcohol exposure of 3 or more glasses was associated with alcohol disorders. The fully adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) of developing early-onset alcohol disorders at age 21 years were 2.95 (1.62-5.36) for those exposed to maternal drinking in early pregnancy and 1.35 (0.69-2.63) for those exposed in late pregnancy. There was also a strong association between alcohol exposure in early pregnancy and late-onset alcohol disorders (odds ratio, 3.29 [95% confidence interval, 1.74-6.24]).

Conclusions  Our results provide support for a biological origin of adult alcohol disorders and suggest that the association is not explained solely by maternal drinking or smoking during childhood and adolescence or other intervening factors. Further research is needed to understand the mechanisms underlying the association.

Author Affiliations: Schools of Population Health (Drs Alati, Al Mamun, Williams, and Najman), Medicine (Dr O’Callaghan), Social Science (Dr Najman), and Psychiatry (Dr Bor), The University of Queensland, Herston, Australia; and Mater Children's Hospital (Dr O’Callaghan) and South Brisbane Child & Youth Mental Health Services (Dr Bor), South Brisbane, Australia.

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

From the Cover: Fetal ethanol exposure increases ethanol intake by making it smell and taste better
Youngentob and Glendinning
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2009;106:5359-5364.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders and Alterations in Brain and Behaviour
Guerri et al.
Alcohol Alcohol 2009;44:108-114.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Binge Pattern of Alcohol Consumption During Pregnancy and Childhood Mental Health Outcomes: Longitudinal Population-Based Study
Sayal et al.
Pediatrics 2009;123:e289-e296.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Alcohol abuse in adolescents
McArdle
Arch. Dis. Child. 2008;93:524-527.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Fetal Learning About Ethanol and Later Ethanol Responsiveness: Evidence Against "Safe" Amounts of Prenatal Exposure
Abate et al.
Exp. Biol. Med. 2008;233:139-154.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Alcohol consumption in pregnancy as a risk factor for later mental health problems
Sayal
Evid. Based Ment. Health 2007;10:98-100.
FULL TEXT  

Causal Inferences Regarding Prenatal Alcohol Exposure and Childhood Externalizing Problems
D'Onofrio et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 2007;64:1296-1304.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Childhood and Adulthood Psychological Ill Health as Predictors of Midlife Affective and Anxiety Disorders: The 1958 British Birth Cohort
Clark et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 2007;64:668-678.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT