Maternal prenatal smoking, parental antisocial behavior, and early childhood physical aggression

Abstract

This study investigated joint effects of maternal prenatal smoking and parental history of antisocial behavior on physical aggression between ages 17 and 42 months in a population sample of children born in Québec (N = 1,745). An analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed significant main effects of maternal prenatal smoking and a significant interaction between maternal prenatal smoking and mother's history of antisocial behavior in the prediction of children's probability to display high and rising physical aggression. The interaction indicated that the effects of heavy smoking during pregnancy (> or =10 cigarettes/day) were greater when the mother also had a serious history of antisocial behavior. The effects remained significant after the introduction of control variables (e.g., hostile-reactive parenting, family functioning, parental separation/divorce, family income, and maternal education). Another significant interaction not accounted for by control variables was observed for maternal prenatal smoking and family income, indicating more serious effects of maternal prenatal smoking under relatively low-income, conditions. Both interactions indicate critical adversities that, in combination with maternal prenatal smoking, have supra-additive effects on (the development of) physical aggression during early childhood. These findings may have implications for the selection of intervention targets and strategies.

Figure 1

The untransformed probability of displaying high and rising physical aggression between ages 17 and 42 months (mean and 95% CI) by maternal prenatal smoking and mother’s history of antisocial behavior. For analyses the log transformed probability was used to achieve equality of variance across groups, Levene’s test: F (8, 1736) = 1.3, p = .231. Data courtesy of the Institut de la Statistique du Québec.

Figure 2

The untransformed probability of displaying high and rising physical aggression between ages 17 and 42 months (mean and 95% CI) by maternal prenatal smoking and family income. For analyses the log transformed probability was used to achieve equality of variance across groups, Levene’s test: F (2, 1742) = 1.3, p = .280. Data courtesy of the Institut de la Statistique du Québec.