Despite the known dangers of pregnancy smoking, rates remain high, especially in the rural, Southern United States. Interventions are effective, but few have been developed and tested in regions with high rates of pregnancy smoking, a culture that normalizes smoking, and a hard-to-reach prenatal population. The goals were to describe a smoking…

Background: Sacred Beginnings is a community-based participatory research project that examines the effectiveness of a culturally appropriate preconception health educational intervention developed by tribal community members and elders. The primary goal is to increase knowledge of preconception health and its benefits among adolescent females and…

This two-phase evaluation documented the delivery and effectiveness of evidence-based health education methods by regular staff to pregnant smokers. During Phase 1, a total of 436 Medicaid patients were screened and 416 (95%) gave consent: 334 nonsmokers and 102 smokers. This historical Comparison (C) group was assessed to document the "normal"…

The analysis of the data on 22,545 smoking mothers and their 18-month-old children finds that maternal smoking during pregnancy increases the risk for externalizing behavior problem at the age of 18-months. The child's gender is found to have no moderating effects on the findings.

Recent analyses differ on how effective the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) is at improving infant health. We use data from nine states that participate in the Pregnancy Nutrition Surveillance System to address limitations in previous work. With information on the mother's timing of WIC enrollment, we…

This study examined whether children exposed to prenatal smoking show deficits in "hot" and/or "cool" executive functioning (EF). Hot EF is involved in regulation of affect and motivation, whereas cool EF is involved in handling abstract, decontextualized problems. Forty 7 to 9-year-old children (15 exposed to prenatal smoking, 25 non-exposed)…

Unfortunately, very little research has examined the link between antisocial personality traits in childhood and adult psychopathy. This study used data from a clinic-referred sample of 177 boys, assessed annually from recruitment (ages 7 to 12) through age 19. Parent and teacher ratings of interpersonal callousness (IC) were tested at predictors…

Context: Identifying how maternal residential location affects late initiation of prenatal care is important for policy planning and allocation of resources for intervention. Purpose: To determine how rural residence and other social and demographic characteristics affect late initiation of prenatal care, and how residence status is associated…

This study investigated associations between maternal prenatal smoking and physical aggression (PA), hyperactivity-impulsivity (HI) and co-occurring PA and HI between ages 17 and 42 months in a population sample of children born in Quebec (Canada) in 1997/1998 (N=1745). Trajectory model estimation showed three distinct developmental patterns for…

This article presents findings from a qualitative study of 53 low-income women who were smokers at the onset of pregnancy. Study participants were interviewed during pregnancy to document smoking trajectories and factors contributing to, or undermining, harm reduction and quit attempts. Thirty percent of women quit smoking completely, 43% engaged…

This article presents long-term effects of a preventive intervention for young children at high risk for antisocial behavior. Ninety-two children (M age = 4 years) were randomly assigned to an 8-month family intervention or no-intervention control condition and assessed 4 times over a 24-month period. Intent-to-treat analyses revealed significant…

Background: Prenatal problems are among theorized etiologies for child disruptive behavior problems. A key question concerns whether etiological contributors are shared across the broad range of disruptive psychopathology or are partially or largely distinct. Method: We examined prenatal smoking exposure and low birth weight as risk factors for…

Objective: Prenatal smoking is robustly associated with increased risk of conduct problems in offspring. Observational studies that provide detailed phenotypic description are critical for generating testable hypotheses about underlying processes through which the effects of prenatal smoking may operate. To this end, we use a developmental…

Objective: Few previous studies assessed specifically attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, predominantly inattentive subtype (ADHD-I) in nonreferred samples. This study investigated the association between ADHD-I and prenatal exposure to nicotine. Method: In a case-control study performed between September 2002 and April 2005, we assessed a…

This article describes The Community Perinatal Care Study, a community-based study of pregnancy support that was conducted in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, between 2001 and 2004. The study was conducted to learn how to improve community-based pregnancy care and to improve prenatal care and healthy births, particularly for women with increased…