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Prospective longitudinal associations between household smoke exposure in early childhood and antisocial behavior at age 12
Author(s) -
Pagani L. S.,
LévesqueSeck F.,
Archambault I.,
Janosz M.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
indoor air
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.387
H-Index - 99
eISSN - 1600-0668
pISSN - 0905-6947
DOI - 10.1111/ina.12353
Subject(s) - longitudinal study , aggression , standard deviation , confidence interval , prospective cohort study , demography , psychology , unit (ring theory) , medicine , confounding , pediatrics , developmental psychology , environmental health , statistics , mathematics education , mathematics , surgery , pathology , sociology
Young children exert little control over household tobacco smoke exposure, which is considered a developmental neurotoxicant. Using the Quebec Longitudinal Study birth cohort, we examine prospective associations between early childhood smoke exposure and later antisocial behavior. Parents of 1035 children reported on the presence of household smokers at seven follow‐ups from ages 1.5 to 7.5. At age 12, children self‐reported on five aspects of early antisocial dispositions. After adjusting for confounders, every standard deviation increase in household smoke exposure was prospectively associated with a 19% standard deviation unit increase in conduct problems (β=0.07; 95% confidence interval [ CI ] from 0.04 to 0.09), a 11% standard deviation unit increase in proactive aggression (β=0.04; 95% CI from 0.01 to 0.07), a 13% standard deviation unit increase in reactive aggression (β=0.07; 95% CI from 0.03 to 0.12), a 14% standard deviation unit increase in school indiscipline (β=0.13; 95% CI from 0.05 to 0.20), and a 10% standard deviation unit increase in dropout risk (β=0.07; 95% CI from 0.01 to 0.12). These long‐term findings warrant fostering parental awareness of developmental risks by policy‐makers/health practitioners. School curricula can equally integrate these ideas into their curriculum.