Maternal Cigarette Smoking during Pregnancy and Offspring Externalizing Behavioral Problems: A Propensity Score Matching Analysis

Brian B. Boutwell and Kevin M. Beaver
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Brian B. Boutwell: College of Criminal Justice, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX 77341-2296, USA
Kevin M. Beaver: College of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306-1127, USA

IJERPH, 2010, vol. 7, issue 1, 1-18

Abstract: A body of empirical research has revealed that prenatal exposure to tobacco smoke is related to a host of negative outcomes, including reduced cognitive abilities, later-life health problems, and childhood behavioral problems. While these findings are often interpreted as evidence of the causal role that prenatal exposure to tobacco smoke has on human phenotypes, emerging evidence has suggested that the association between prenatal exposure to tobacco smoke and behavioral phenotypes may be spurious. The current analysis of data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (ECLS-B) revealed that the association between prenatal exposure to cigarette smoke and externalizing behavioral problems was fully accounted for by confounding factors. The implications that these findings have for policy and research are discussed.

Keywords: behavioral problems; cigarette; childhood; prenatal; smoking (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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