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Although maternal smoking during pregnancy has been associated with subsequent antisocial behavior in offspring, even in animals, causal links have not been established. To examine this more thoroughly, researchers started with a multicenter study enrolling >13,700 pregnant women in 1959 to 1966.
In a procedure oversampling families with multiple children, the investigators focused on 1684 adult offspring for whom juvenile and adult legal records were available and who completed interviews at a mean age of 40. About 40% of the mothers did not smoke during the index pregnancies; 34% smoked a pack or more per day. Researchers examined both self-reported and official records of nonviolent and violent offenses. Analyses adjusted for maternal age…