Smoking and child behaviour

Children whose mothers smoked during their pregnancy are more likely to be badly-behaved but it is very difficult to tell whether it is the smoking itself that causes this or other genetic or environmental factors. Researchers from Cardiff University got around this by studying 779 children born via in-vitro-fertilisation (IVF) some of whom were genetically related to their mothers and some of whom were not. The study found that there was a link between smoking and bad behaviour but only if the mother and child shared the same genes. There was no link if they did not suggesting that antisocial behaviour is more dependent on inherited factors passed on from mother to child.

You can find out more about this research at

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090202174938.htm