Maternal and paternal alcohol consumption in the prenatal period and mental health and behavior of their children until adulthood

Maternal alcohol consumption can adversely affect children's development, but the impact of paternal drinking is less understood. We aimed to investigate whether maternal or paternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy affected children's mental health and behavior. A total of 2,013 paren...

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Published in:European psychiatry Vol. 68; no. 1; p. e70
Main Authors: Mohrová, Zuzana, Csajbók, Zsófia, Kšiňan, Albert, Andrýsková, Lenka, Brennan Kearns, Pavla
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: England Cambridge University Press 30.05.2025
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Age
Alcohol Drinking - adverse effects
Alcohol Drinking - epidemiology
Alcohol use
Alcoholism
Behavior
Child
Child Behavior
Child development
Children & youth
Childrens health
cohort study
Europe - epidemiology
Families & family life
Fathers
Fathers - statistics & numerical data
Female
Humans
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Maternity & paternity leaves
Mental health
mental health of children
Missing data
Mothers
Mothers - statistics & numerical data
parental alcohol consumption
Parents & parenting
Pregnancy
Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects - epidemiology
Questionnaires
Sensitivity analysis
Statistical power
Womens health
Europe
Czech Republic
child development
cohort study
mental health of children
parental alcohol consumption
ISSN:0924-9338, 1778-3585, 1778-3585
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Maternal alcohol consumption can adversely affect children's development, but the impact of paternal drinking is less understood. We aimed to investigate whether maternal or paternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy affected children's mental health and behavior. A total of 2,013 parent-child triads from the European Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood cohort were used. Data on alcohol consumption was obtained from questionnaires during pregnancy and after the child's birth. Mental health and behavior of children were assessed with Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). The associations were tested using linear regression, adjusting for socio-demographic and psychosocial covariates. Increased maternal alcohol consumption was associated with higher total SDQ scores at ages 7, 11, and 18 years old when the outcomes were reported by mothers, but only at 11 years when reported by children. We did not observe any dose-response relationship, and the effect size did not change during the follow-up. The effects were observed across various domains of SDQ: in the emotional symptoms subscale at age 11, in the conduct problems subscale at ages 7 and 11, and in the hyperactivity/inattention subscale at age 18. Paternal alcohol consumption was not associated with SDQ. Maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy is associated with long-term effects on children's mental health and behavior, particularly when reported by mothers. No association was found between paternal alcohol consumption, suggesting that the results may stem from biological effects of alcohol or other factors beyond the direct exposure, potentially encompassing broader maternal psychosocial or behavioral characteristics.
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ISSN:0924-9338
1778-3585
1778-3585
DOI:10.1192/j.eurpsy.2025.10035