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Intelligence in girls and their subsequent smoking behaviour as mothers: the 1958 National Child Development Study and the 1970 British Cohort Study

Intelligence in girls and their subsequent smoking behaviour as mothers: the 1958 National Child Development Study and the 1970 British Cohort Study
Intelligence in girls and their subsequent smoking behaviour as mothers: the 1958 National Child Development Study and the 1970 British Cohort Study
Background Exposure to tobacco smoke either in utero or postnatally can have substantial adverse effects on child health, yet many women continue to smoke during pregnancy and after the birth. How women's intelligence in childhood affects their smoking behaviour as mothers is unclear.
Methods The participants were from two British national birth cohorts: 3325 women aged 33 years from the 1958 National Child Development Study and 1971 women aged 34 years from the 1970 British Cohort Study. We used structural equation modelling to examine the direct and indirect effects of intelligence measured at age 10–11 years, parental and current social class, educational attainment and age at first birth on smoking during pregnancy and current smoking status.
Results Forty per cent of women in the 1958 cohort smoked during pregnancy, compared with 28% of those from the 1970 cohort. In both cohorts, women with lower IQ in childhood were more likely as adults to smoke during pregnancy and to be a smoker currently. Structural equation modelling showed that the effects of childhood IQ on smoking behaviour were indirect, as they were statistically mediated by educational attainment and age at first birth. There was some effect of educational attainment and age at first birth on smoking behaviour over and above the effect of intelligence.
Conclusion Childhood intelligence influenced women's smoking behaviour as mothers primarily through its contributions to educational attainment and age at first birth.
intelligence, smoking, pregnancy, age at first birth, women
0300-5771
173-181
Gale, Catharine R.
5bb2abb3-7b53-42d6-8aa7-817e193140c8
Johnson, Wendy
129106f0-2b66-4b67-b0e4-7c3e9e9d3f58
Deary, Ian J.
027158ae-fbfb-40ea-98b1-32d2690499ac
Schoon, Ingrid
7d34edc7-0fbc-4ba1-8c0c-30746d693d11
Batty, G. David
605ce199-493d-4238-b9c8-a2c076672e83
Gale, Catharine R.
5bb2abb3-7b53-42d6-8aa7-817e193140c8
Johnson, Wendy
129106f0-2b66-4b67-b0e4-7c3e9e9d3f58
Deary, Ian J.
027158ae-fbfb-40ea-98b1-32d2690499ac
Schoon, Ingrid
7d34edc7-0fbc-4ba1-8c0c-30746d693d11
Batty, G. David
605ce199-493d-4238-b9c8-a2c076672e83

Gale, Catharine R., Johnson, Wendy, Deary, Ian J., Schoon, Ingrid and Batty, G. David (2009) Intelligence in girls and their subsequent smoking behaviour as mothers: the 1958 National Child Development Study and the 1970 British Cohort Study. International Journal of Epidemiology, 38 (1), 173-181. (doi:10.1093/ije/dyn201).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Background Exposure to tobacco smoke either in utero or postnatally can have substantial adverse effects on child health, yet many women continue to smoke during pregnancy and after the birth. How women's intelligence in childhood affects their smoking behaviour as mothers is unclear.
Methods The participants were from two British national birth cohorts: 3325 women aged 33 years from the 1958 National Child Development Study and 1971 women aged 34 years from the 1970 British Cohort Study. We used structural equation modelling to examine the direct and indirect effects of intelligence measured at age 10–11 years, parental and current social class, educational attainment and age at first birth on smoking during pregnancy and current smoking status.
Results Forty per cent of women in the 1958 cohort smoked during pregnancy, compared with 28% of those from the 1970 cohort. In both cohorts, women with lower IQ in childhood were more likely as adults to smoke during pregnancy and to be a smoker currently. Structural equation modelling showed that the effects of childhood IQ on smoking behaviour were indirect, as they were statistically mediated by educational attainment and age at first birth. There was some effect of educational attainment and age at first birth on smoking behaviour over and above the effect of intelligence.
Conclusion Childhood intelligence influenced women's smoking behaviour as mothers primarily through its contributions to educational attainment and age at first birth.

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More information

Published date: February 2009
Keywords: intelligence, smoking, pregnancy, age at first birth, women

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 71602
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/71602
ISSN: 0300-5771
PURE UUID: 0ba774d3-a15d-4c83-b93d-bade6952f45f
ORCID for Catharine R. Gale: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-3361-8638

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Date deposited: 16 Dec 2009
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 02:38

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Contributors

Author: Wendy Johnson
Author: Ian J. Deary
Author: Ingrid Schoon
Author: G. David Batty

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