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Objective: To examine the effects of pre-pregnancy alcohol drinking on child neuropsychological functioning.Design: Prospective follow-up study.Setting and Population: 154 women and their children sampled from the Danish National Birth Cohort.Methods: Participants were sampled based on maternal alcohol consumption before pregnancy. At 5 years of age, the children were tested with the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-Revised, the Test of Everyday Attention for Children at Five (TEACh-5), and the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (MABC). The Behaviour Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) was completed by the mothers and a preschool teacher. Parental education, maternal IQ, prenatal maternal smoking, child's age at testing, child's sex, and maternal alcohol intake during pregnancy were considered potential confounders.Main Outcome Measures: Performance on the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-Revised, the TEACh-5, the MABC, and the BRIEF.Results: Intake of 15-21 drinks/week on average prior to pregnancy was not associated with any of the outcomes, but intake of ≥22 drinks/week on average was associated with a significantly lower adjusted mean full scale IQ and lower adjusted means in overall attention and sustained attention score, but not in selective attention score or any of the BRIEF index scores or MABC scores.Conclusions: Intake of ≥22 drinks/week before pregnancy was associated with lower mean full scale IQ, overall attention and sustained attention. Assessment of pre-pregnancy drinking provides additional information regarding potential prenatal alcohol exposure and its implications for child neurodevelopment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To examine the effects of low to moderate maternal alcohol consumption and binge drinking in early pregnancy on behaviour in children at the age of 5 years.Design: Prospective cohort study.Setting: Neuropsychological testing in four Danish cities, 2003-2008.Population: A total of 1628 women and their children sampled from the Danish National Birth Cohort.Methods: Participants were sampled based on maternal alcohol drinking patterns during early pregnancy. When the children were 5 years of age the parent and teacher versions of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) were completed by the mothers and a preschool teacher, respectively. The full statistical model included the following potential confounding factors: maternal binge drinking or low to moderate alcohol consumption, respectively; parental education; maternal IQ; prenatal maternal smoking; the child's age at testing; the child's gender; maternal age; parity; maternal marital status; family home environment; postnatal parental smoking; prepregnancy maternal body mass index (BMI); and the child's health status.Main Outcome Measure: Behaviour among children assessed by the SDQ parent and teacher forms.Results: Adjusted for all potential confounding factors, no statistically significant associations were observed between maternal low to moderate average weekly alcohol consumption and SDQ behavioural scores (OR 1.1, 95% CI 0.5-2.3; OR 1.1, 95% CI 0.6-2.1 for the total difficulties scores) or between binge drinking and SDQ behavioural scores (OR 1.2, 95% CI 0.8-1.7; OR 0.8, 95% CI 0.6-1.2).Conclusion: This study observed no consistent effects of low to moderate alcohol consumption or binge drinking in early pregnancy on offspring behaviour at the age of 5 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To conduct a combined analysis of the estimated effects of maternal average weekly alcohol consumption, and any binge drinking, in early to mid pregnancy on general intelligence, attention, and executive function in 5-year-old children.Design: Follow-up study.Setting: Neuropsychological testing in four Danish cities 2003-2008.Population: A cohort of 1628 women and their children sampled from the Danish National Birth Cohort.Methods: Participants were sampled based on maternal alcohol consumption during early pregnancy. At age 5 years, the children were tested for general intelligence, attention, and executive function. The three outcomes were analysed together in a multivariate model to obtain joint estimates and P values for the association of alcohol across outcomes. The effects of low to moderate alcohol consumption and binge drinking in early pregnancy were adjusted for a wide range of potential confounding factors.Main Outcome Measures: Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-Revised (WPPSI-R), the Test of Everyday Attention for Children at Five (TEACh-5), and the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functions (BRIEF) scores.Results: Multivariate analyses showed no statistically significant effects arising from average weekly alcohol consumption or any binge drinking, either individually or in combination. These results replicate findings from separate analyses of each outcome variable.Conclusions: The present study contributes comprehensive methodological and statistical approaches that should be incorporated in future studies of low to moderate alcohol consumption and binge drinking during pregnancy. Furthermore, as no safe level of drinking during pregnancy has been established, the most conservative advice for women is not to drink alcohol during pregnancy. However, the present study suggests that small volumes consumed occasionally may not present serious concern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]