Severe psychosocial stress and heavy cigarette smoking during pregnancy: an examination of the pre- and perinatal risk factors associated with ADHD and Tourette syndrome

• Published in: European child & adolescent psychiatry Vol. 19; no. 10; pp. 755 - 764
• Main Authors: Motlagh, Maria G., Katsovich, Liliya, Thompson, Nancy, Lin, Haiqun, Kim, Young-Shin, Scahill, Lawrence, Lombroso, Paul J., King, Robert A., Peterson, Bradley S., Leckman, James F.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer-Verlag 01-10-2010; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Addictive behaviors; Adolescent; Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity - diagnosis; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity - etiology; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity - psychology; Attention deficit disorders. Hyperactivity; Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child and Adolescent Psychiatry; Child clinical studies; Children; Children & youth; Comorbidity; Female; Humans; Hyperactivity; Logistic Models; Male; Medical sciences; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Odds Ratio; Organic mental disorders. Neuropsychology; Original Contribution; Postal codes; Pregnancy; Pregnant women; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Psychosocial factors; Risk Factors; Smoking; Smoking - adverse effects; Social Environment; Stress; Stress, Psychological - complications; Stress, Psychological - psychology; Surveys and Questionnaires; Tobacco smoking; Tourette syndrome; Tourette Syndrome - diagnosis; Tourette Syndrome - etiology; Tourette Syndrome - psychology; United States; North America; America; New York; United States > US; Environmental factors; Pre-, perinatal complications; Obstetric complications; Tourette syndrome (TS); Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); Social environment; Parental behavior; Mental health; Tobacco smoking; Environmental factor; Maternal behavior; Family environment; Complication; Gilles de la Tourette syndrome; Degenerative disease; Attention disorder with hyperactivity; Child; Public health; Human; Nervous system diseases; Perinatal; Psychosocial factor; Obstetrics; Retrospective; Stress; Cerebral disorder; Pregnancy; Concomitant disease; School age; Central nervous system disease; Adolescent; Risk factor
• ISSN: 1018-8827; 1435-165X
• DOI: 10.1007/s00787-010-0115-7

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is frequently diagnosed in children with Tourette syndrome (TS). The basis for this co-occurrence is uncertain. This study aimed to determine if specific pre- and perinatal risk factors, including heavy maternal smoking and severe psychosocial stress during pregnancy, were associated with one or both disorders, or neither. We compared maternal report data on pre- and perinatal risk factors on 222 children between the ages of 7 and 18 years including 45 individuals with TS alone, 52 individuals with ADHD alone, 60 individuals with condition of comorbid TS + ADHD, and 65 unaffected control children. Pre- and perinatal histories as well as psychiatric assessments were performed using standardized questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with the mothers and children. Logistic regression was used to determine the odds ratio for each variable of interest. Compared to the mothers of unaffected control children, the mothers of children with ADHD alone reported higher rates of heavy smoking (>10 cigarettes per day) during pregnancy and higher levels of severe psychosocial stress during pregnancy (OR = 13.5,
p
 < 0.01 and OR = 6.8,
p
 < 0.002, respectively). The TS + ADHD and the TS alone patients also had higher rates heavy maternal smoking and high levels of psychosocial stress compared to the control children, but these differences failed to reach statistical significance (heavy smoking: OR = 8.5,
p
 < 0.052, OR = 4.6,
p
 < 0.19, respectively; severe psychosocial stress: OR = 3.1,
p
 < 0.07, OR = 2.6,
p
 < 0.11, respectively). Heavy maternal smoking and severe levels psychosocial stress during pregnancy were independently associated with a diagnosis of ADHD. TS patients also had higher rates of these risk factors, but the ORs failed to reach statistical significance. Efforts are needed to reduce the frequency of these risk factors in high-risk populations. Future studies, using genetically sensitive designs, are also needed to sort out the causal pathways.