Prenatal alcohol exposure and offspring cognition and school performance. A 'Mendelian randomization' natural experiment.

ABSTRACT:

Background

There is substantial debate as to whether moderate alcohol use during pregnancy could have subtle but important effects on offspring, by impairing later cognitive function and thus school performance. The authors aimed to investigate the unconfounded effect of moderately increased prenatal alcohol exposure on cognitive/educational performance.

Methods

We used mother-offspring pairs participating in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) and performed both conventional observational analyses and Mendelian randomization using an ADH1B variant (rs1229984) associated with reduced alcohol consumption. Women of White European origin with genotype and self-reported prenatal alcohol consumption, whose offspring's IQ score had been assessed in clinic

SUBMITTER: Zuccolo L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3807618 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature