Light drinking in pregnancy and mid-childhood mental health and learning outcomes

Kapil Sayal*, Elizabeth S. Draper, Robert Fraser, Margaret Barrow, George Davey Smith, Ron Gray

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (Academic Journal)peer-review

24 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Objective To investigate whether light drinking in pregnancy is associated with adverse child mental health and academic outcomes.

Design Using data from the prospective, population-based Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), we investigated the associations between light drinking in pregnancy (

Participants 11-year-old children from ALSPAC with parent (n=6587) and teacher (n=6393) completed SDQs and data from Key Stage 2 examination results (n=10 558).

Results 39% of women had consumed = 1 glass per week of alcohol during the first trimester (45% abstaining). After adjustment, relative to abstainers, there was no effect of light drinking on teacher-rated SDQ scores or examination results. In girls, although there was a suggestion of worse outcomes (adjusted regression coefficient=0.38; 95% CI 0.01 to 0.74) on the parent-rated total SDQ score in those exposed to light drinking compared to abstainers, no dose-response relationship was evident.

Conclusions Although the pattern of findings involving parent ratings for girls exposed to light drinking is consistent with earlier findings from this cohort, the overall lack of any adverse effects of light drinking is similar to findings from other recent cohort studies. Light drinking in pregnancy does not appear to be associated with clinically important adverse effects for mental health and academic outcomes at the age of 11 years.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)107-111
Number of pages5
JournalArchives of Disease in Childhood
Volume98
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Feb 2013

Keywords

  • PRENATAL ALCOHOL EXPOSURE
  • POSTNATAL DEPRESSION SCALE
  • DIFFICULTIES QUESTIONNAIRE
  • COGNITIVE DEFICITS
  • AGE 6
  • RISK
  • CONSUMPTION
  • BEHAVIOR
  • ASSOCIATION
  • ATTENTION

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  • EXTENSION OF RD1321 VIA IOP.

    Golding, J. (Principal Investigator)

    1/02/011/02/06

    Project: Research

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