Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 20, 2026

Assessment and Evaluation of the High Risk Neonate: The NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale
19:15

Assessment and Evaluation of the High Risk Neonate: The NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale

Published on: August 25, 2014

Interrelations Between Maternal Smoking During Pregnancy, Birth Weight and Sociodemographic Factors in the Prediction

S C J Huijbregts1, J R Séguin2, P D Zelazo3

  • 1Department of Clinical Child and Adolescent Studies, Leiden University, The Netherlands.

Infant and Child Development
|April 1, 2017
PubMed

Insights

Maternal prenatal smoking and birth weight impact children's cognitive abilities. Birth weight, particularly in lower socioeconomic conditions, showed a stronger influence on cognitive development than prenatal smoking.

Area of Science:

  • Child Development
  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Maternal prenatal smoking and birth weight are potential influences on child cognitive development.
  • Sociodemographic factors may moderate these relationships.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between maternal prenatal smoking, birth weight, sociodemographic factors, and cognitive abilities in 3.5-year-old children.
  • To explore moderating and mediating effects in these associations.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized data from 1544 children in the Québec Longitudinal Study of Children's Development.
  • Assessed cognitive abilities using the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT) for verbal skills, Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-Revised (WPPSI-R) block design for visuospatial skills, and Visually Cued Recall (VCR) for short-term memory.

Main Results:

  • Prenatal smoking showed associations with cognitive performance but was not an independent predictor after accounting for maternal education.
  • Birth weight was a robust predictor across all cognitive measures, independently predicting VCR performance.
  • Birth weight interacted with family income and maternal education, with greater impact under poorer socioeconomic conditions. Parenting and family functioning mediated effects of education/income on cognition, especially with lower birth weight.

Conclusions:

  • Birth weight, especially in conjunction with socioeconomic factors, plays a significant role in early cognitive development.
  • Understanding moderating and mediating factors like socioeconomic status and family functioning is crucial for identifying at-risk children and designing targeted interventions.

Keywords:
birth weightcognitivenicotinepregnancypreschoolsmoking

More Related Videos

Induction of Maternal Immune Activation in Mice at Mid-gestation Stage with Viral Mimic Poly(I:C)07:13

Induction of Maternal Immune Activation in Mice at Mid-gestation Stage with Viral Mimic Poly(I:C)

Published on: March 25, 2016

Concurrent Collection of Fetal Murine Brain and Serum to Assess Effects of Maternal Diet on Nutrition and Neurodevelopment in Neurofibromatosis Type 105:44

Concurrent Collection of Fetal Murine Brain and Serum to Assess Effects of Maternal Diet on Nutrition and Neurodevelopment in Neurofibromatosis Type 1

Published on: May 17, 2024

Related Concept Videos

Regression Toward the Mean01:52

Regression Toward the Mean

Regression toward the mean (“RTM”) is a phenomenon in which extremely high or low values—for example, and individual’s blood pressure at a particular moment—appear closer to a group’s average upon remeasuring. Although this statistical peculiarity is the result of random error and chance, it has been problematic across various medical, scientific, financial and psychological applications. In particular, RTM, if not taken into account, can interfere when researchers try to extrapolate results...
Biological Influences on Intelligence01:30

Biological Influences on Intelligence

Intelligence is often thought to be linked to brain size, but the relationship is more complex than that. While brain size does correlate modestly with some abilities, like verbal skills, the connection is weaker for others, such as spatial reasoning. Other factors, like brain structure, also play crucial roles. For instance, despite Einstein's smaller-than-average brain, his parietal cortex, which is involved in spatial reasoning, was 15% wider, suggesting that neural density might matter more...
Environmental Influences on Intelligence01:29

Environmental Influences on Intelligence

Despite the strong genetic influence on traits like intelligence, environmental factors significantly shape outcomes. For example, while over 90% of height variation is due to genetic differences, environmental factors such as nutrition also have a notable impact. Similarly, for intelligence, changes in a child's surroundings can significantly alter their IQ. Research shows that enriched environments boost children's academic success and help them develop key cognitive skills. Children from...
Socioemotional Development during Infancy01:30

Socioemotional Development during Infancy

Socio-emotional development in infancy is primarily shaped by early emotional responses and social connections, with temperament playing a central role. Temperament refers to the consistent patterns in an individual's emotional and behavioral responses, observable even in infancy. By examining temperament, researchers can better understand an infant's unique ways of interacting with the world, influencing subsequent personality and socio-emotional growth.
Primary Temperament Types
Stella Chess...
Relationship with Parents: Attachment01:28

Relationship with Parents: Attachment

Parent-child interactions lay the foundation for how we understand relationships throughout life. These interactions are not uniform across families; instead, they are shaped by a range of environmental, emotional, and behavioral factors unique to each caregiver-child dynamic. Social psychologists study these early relationships to understand how patterns formed in infancy influence social functioning and interpersonal behavior in adulthood.Attachment Theory and Early Relational ModelsJohn...
Development of the Oral Microbiota01:28

Development of the Oral Microbiota

The establishment of the oral microbiome begins before birth, challenging the long-held belief that the fetal oral cavity is sterile. The presence of oral microbes such as Streptococcus and Fusobacterium in amniotic fluid suggests that microbial exposure may occur in utero, potentially through translocation from the maternal oral or gastrointestinal tract. This early colonization primes the neonatal immune system and sets the stage for subsequent microbial succession. Maternal health,...