Through a collaborative research effort, Rashelle J. Musci, PhD of Johns Hopkins University and Irva Hertz-Picciotto, PhD of the University of California, Davis found that maternal tobacco use before or during pregnancy was associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) traits, such as symptoms of social impairment. Examples of social, communication, or other behaviors among individuals with ASD include little or no eye contact, difficulty with engaging in conversation, insistence on doing things the exact same way, repetitively, or having a narrow set of interests. Additionally, the researchers found that full-term babies whose mothers smoked before or during pregnancy had a 44% increased risk of receiving an ASD diagnosis later in childhood. Their research, titled “Maternal Tobacco Smoking and Offspring Autism Spectrum Disorder or Traits in ECHO Cohorts” is published in Autism Research.
“Previous studies provide varying results on how tobacco smoke exposure during pregnancy affects a child’s risk for autism,” said Dr. Hertz-Picciotto, highlighting the importance of this research.
To collect data, the research team gathered information from approximately 11,000 children in 13 cohorts across the United States. Each of the cohorts either collected diagnoses for ASD or administered the Social Responsiveness Scale to determine social impairments in the children, or both. The research team studied each cohort individually and combined these findings to come up with an overall result. It also collected data on the mothers’ prenatal smoking habits and other potential confounding variables.
“This study adds to existing evidence that suggests that by ceasing smoking before or during pregnancy, the mother benefits her child,” noted lead author Dr. Musci.
Future studies can help determine the specific prenatal period at which infants are most susceptible to cigarette smoke exposure and other factors, such as lifestyle habits or paternal smoking, that may influence the child’s development.