Prenatal Tobacco Exposure and Child Regulation

Child writing in a notebook at school.

This project will examine the impact of prenatal exposure to cigarettes on a child’s development of self-regulation—the ability to modulate emotions and behave in socially appropriate ways.

Principal Investigator: Rina Das Eiden

Co-investigator: Gregory G. Homish, PhD

Funding Agency: National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

Period: 8/2006-12/2016                                                                           

Abstract: The purpose of this longitudinal, multi-method study is to investigate the impact of prenatal exposure to cigarettes on the development of self-regulation over the first two years of life. Because most women who smoke cigarettes during pregnancy continue to smoke after delivery and have partners who smoke, children’s exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) will also be examined.