Male Violence Linked to Mother Smoking while Pregnant
03/14/99
A study just published said that males born to women who smoke during pregnancy run a risk of violent and criminal behavior that lasts well into adulthood.
The researchers at Emory University in Atlanta stated that the finding was consistent with studies conducted earlier that linked prenatal smoking by women to lawbreaking as well as impulsive behavior and attention deficit behavior. Although these results are similar the researchers said that their study, which was based on the arrest histories up to age 34 of 4,169 males born between 1959 and 1961 in Denmark, is the first to show that the impact lasted beyond adolescents into adulthood. "Our results support the hypothesis that the maternal smoking during pregnancy is related to increased rates of crime in adult offspring," the study said. The reasoning behind the results might be damage done by smoking to the central nervous system of the fetus, researchers said.
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