23837773

PMC4447188

Objective

To examine the effects of low to moderate maternal alcohol consumption and binge drinking in early pregnancy on behaviour in children at age five years.

Design

Follow-up study

Setting

Neuropsychological testing in four Danish cities 2003–2008

Population

Prospective cohort study of 1,628 women and their children sampled from the Danish National Birth Cohort.

Methods

Participants were sampled based on maternal alcohol drinking patterns during early pregnancy. When the children were 5 years old, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) Parent and Teacher versions were completed by the mothers and a preschool teacher. The full statistical model included the following potential confounders: Maternal binge drinking or low-moderate alcohol consumption, respectively, parental education, maternal IQ, prenatal maternal smoking, the child’s age at testing, the child’s gender, maternal age, parity, maternal marital status, family-home environment, postnatal parental smoking, pre-pregnancy maternal BMI, and the child’s health status.

Main outcome measures

Behaviour among children assessed by the SDQ parent and teacher forms.

Results

Adjusted for all potential confounders, no statistically significant associations were observed between maternal low to moderate average weekly alcohol consumption and SDQ behavioural scores (OR 1.1, CI 0.5–2.3 and OR 1.1., CI 0.6–2.1 for the total difficulties scores) or between binge drinking and SDQ behavioural scores (OR 1.2, CI 0.8–1.7 and OR 0.8, CI 0.6–1.2).

Conclusion

This study observed no consistent effects of low to moderate alcohol consumption or binge drinking in early pregnancy on offspring behaviour at age 5 years.

CDC Public Access

CC999999/Intramural CDC HHS/United States