Alison B Singer1, Arthur S Aylsworth2, Christina Cordero1, Lisa A Croen3, Carolyn DiGuiseppi4, M Daniele Fallin5,6,7, Amy H Herring8, Stephen R Hooper9, Rebecca E Pretzel10, Laura A Schieve11, Gayle C Windham12, Julie L Daniels1. 1. Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC. 2. Departments of Pediatrics and Genetics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC. 3. Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Oakland, CA. 4. Department of Epidemiology, Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO. 5. Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD. 6. Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD. 7. The Wendy Klag Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD. 8. Department of Biostatistics and Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC. 9. Department of Allied Health Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC. 10. Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities (CIDD), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC. 11. National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA. 12. Division of Environmental and Occupational Disease Control, CA Department of Public Health, Oakland, CA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Prenatal alcohol exposure can affect neurodevelopment, but few studies have examined associations with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). METHODS: We assessed the association between maternal alcohol use and ASD in the Study to Explore Early Development, a multi-site case-control study of children born between September 2003 and August 2006 in the US Regression analyses included 684 children with research clinician-confirmed ASD, 869 children with non-ASD developmental delays or disorders (DDs), and 962 controls ascertained from the general population (POP). Maternal alcohol exposure during each month from 3 months prior to conception until delivery was assessed by self-report. RESULTS: Mothers of POP children were more likely to report any prenatal alcohol use than mothers of children with ASD or DD. In trimester one, 21.2% of mothers of POP children reported alcohol use compared with 18.1% and 18.2% of mothers of children with ASD or DD, respectively (adjusted OR for ASD vs. POP 0.8, 95% confidence interval 0.6, 1.1). During preconception and the first month of pregnancy, one to two drinks on average per week was inversely associated with ASD risk. CONCLUSIONS: These results do not support an adverse association between low-level alcohol exposure and ASD, although these findings were based on retrospective self-reported alcohol use. Unmeasured confounding or exposure misclassification may explain inverse associations with one to two drinks per week. Pregnant or potentially pregnant women should continue to follow recommendations to avoid alcohol use because of other known effects on infant health and neurodevelopment.
BACKGROUND: Prenatal alcohol exposure can affect neurodevelopment, but few studies have examined associations with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). METHODS: We assessed the association between maternal alcohol use and ASD in the Study to Explore Early Development, a multi-site case-control study of children born between September 2003 and August 2006 in the US Regression analyses included 684 children with research clinician-confirmed ASD, 869 children with non-ASD developmental delays or disorders (DDs), and 962 controls ascertained from the general population (POP). Maternal alcohol exposure during each month from 3 months prior to conception until delivery was assessed by self-report. RESULTS: Mothers of POP children were more likely to report any prenatal alcohol use than mothers of children with ASD or DD. In trimester one, 21.2% of mothers of POP children reported alcohol use compared with 18.1% and 18.2% of mothers of children with ASD or DD, respectively (adjusted OR for ASD vs. POP 0.8, 95% confidence interval 0.6, 1.1). During preconception and the first month of pregnancy, one to two drinks on average per week was inversely associated with ASD risk. CONCLUSIONS: These results do not support an adverse association between low-level alcohol exposure and ASD, although these findings were based on retrospective self-reported alcohol use. Unmeasured confounding or exposure misclassification may explain inverse associations with one to two drinks per week. Pregnant or potentially pregnant women should continue to follow recommendations to avoid alcohol use because of other known effects on infant health and neurodevelopment.
Authors: Joachim Hallmayer; Sue Cleveland; Andrea Torres; Jennifer Phillips; Brianne Cohen; Tiffany Torigoe; Janet Miller; Angie Fedele; Jack Collins; Karen Smith; Linda Lotspeich; Lisa A Croen; Sally Ozonoff; Clara Lajonchere; Judith K Grether; Neil Risch Journal: Arch Gen Psychiatry Date: 2011-07-04
Authors: Lisa D Wiggins; Ann Reynolds; Catherine E Rice; Eric J Moody; Pilar Bernal; Lisa Blaskey; Steven A Rosenberg; Li-Ching Lee; Susan E Levy Journal: J Autism Dev Disord Date: 2015-05
Authors: Diana E Schendel; Carolyn Diguiseppi; Lisa A Croen; M Daniele Fallin; Philip L Reed; Laura A Schieve; Lisa D Wiggins; Julie Daniels; Judith Grether; Susan E Levy; Lisa Miller; Craig Newschaffer; Jennifer Pinto-Martin; Cordelia Robinson; Gayle C Windham; Aimee Alexander; Arthur S Aylsworth; Pilar Bernal; Joseph D Bonner; Lisa Blaskey; Chyrise Bradley; Jack Collins; Casara J Ferretti; Homayoon Farzadegan; Ellen Giarelli; Marques Harvey; Susan Hepburn; Matthew Herr; Kristina Kaparich; Rebecca Landa; Li-Ching Lee; Brooke Levenseller; Stacey Meyerer; Mohammad H Rahbar; Andria Ratchford; Ann Reynolds; Steven Rosenberg; Julie Rusyniak; Stuart K Shapira; Karen Smith; Margaret Souders; Patrick Aaron Thompson; Lisa Young; Marshalyn Yeargin-Allsopp Journal: J Autism Dev Disord Date: 2012-10
Authors: Carolyn G DiGuiseppi; Julie L Daniels; Daniele M Fallin; Steven A Rosenberg; Laura A Schieve; Kathleen C Thomas; Gayle C Windham; Cynthia W Goss; Gnakub N Soke; Dustin W Currie; Alison B Singer; Li-Ching Lee; Pilar Bernal; Lisa A Croen; Lisa A Miller; Jennifer A Pinto-Martin; Lisa M Young; Diana E Schendel Journal: Disabil Health J Date: 2016-01-29 Impact factor: 4.615
Authors: Paula E Goines; Lisa A Croen; Daniel Braunschweig; Cathleen K Yoshida; Judith Grether; Robin Hansen; Martin Kharrazi; Paul Ashwood; Judy Van de Water Journal: Mol Autism Date: 2011-08-02 Impact factor: 7.509
Authors: Johnny A Kenton; Tiahna Ontiveros; Clark W Bird; C Fernando Valenzuela; Jonathan L Brigman Journal: Alcohol Date: 2020-06-12 Impact factor: 2.405