Adolescent Offspring of Women Who Drank Alcohol During First Trimester More Likely to Develop Conduct Disorder

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110321094229.htm

ScienceDaily (Mar. 31, 2011) — Alcohol use during pregnancy is common and is associated with significant threats to the health and development of exposed offspring. Despite warnings from the Surgeon General to limit alcohol use if pregnant or contemplating pregnancy, a recent survey by the National Birth Defects Prevention Study found that nearly one-third of women drank alcohol at some time during their pregnancy, with one-fourth of the women surveyed having drunk during the first trimester.

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Dr. Larkby and colleagues found that adolescents exposed to an average of one or more drinks of alcohol per day in the first trimester of pregnancy were three times more likely to meet criteria for a lifetime diagnosis of conduct disorder than were adolescents whose mothers drank less than that amount or abstained. The association of prenatal alcohol exposure and conduct disorder was not linear and the association was significant only at or above the level of one alcohol drink per day during the first trimester.

By the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM IV) criteria, conduct disorder is a pattern of severe behavior problems persisting for month than 12 months that include aggression toward persons and animals, destruction of property, deceitfulness or theft, and serious rule violations.

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