Poster #120 - Three Measures of Prenatal Tobacco Use: Methodological Comparisons and Infant Outcomes

• In Event: 3-053 - Poster Session 10
  In Poster Session: PS 10 Section - Methods, History, Theory

Integrative Statement

Objectives: Evidence suggests that prenatal tobacco use is associated with poor developmental outcomes for children (e.g., Tiesler & Heinrich, 2014). However, a variety of objective and subjective measures exist for measuring prenatal tobacco use, and these are used inconsistently across studies, making comparisons difficult (e.g., Florescu et al., 2009). It is imperative that researchers explore the associations between various prenatal tobacco use measures to test whether these are measuring the same construct. The current study assesses agreement among three objective and subjective measures of prenatal tobacco use and compares the predictive validity of these measures for infant outcomes.

Methods: Data come from a longitudinal study of 63 infants and their caregivers recruited during pregnancy. Prenatal tobacco use was measured via objective and subjective measures at various time points during pregnancy. Infant socioemotional and cognitive outcomes were assessed at 6 months during a data collection home visit.
A Daily Experience Survey (DES) was created to assess daily tobacco use. The DES was administered online or on the phone for seven days during each trimester, and asked questions about the number of cigarettes smoked during the morning (wake-1PM), afternoon (1PM-time of survey completion), and evening (time of survey completion–bedtime). Total number of cigarettes were summed each day and averaged across the data collection week to create measures of tobacco use in the 2nd and 3rd trimesters. During the third trimester of pregnancy, mothers also completed the Timeline Followback Interview (TLFB; Sobell & Sobell, 1992), a validated interview which assesses the total number of tobacco cigarettes smoked during each trimester of pregnancy. Average number of cigarettes in the 2nd and 3rd trimesters were retained as study variables. At birth, infant umbilical cord tissue was collected and analyzed for cotinine content, providing an objective measure of prenatal tobacco exposure.
Infant outcomes include the very short form of the Revised Infant Behavior Questionnaire (IBQ-R; Gartstein & Rothbart, 2003) and the Infant Behavior Record (IBR; Bayley, 1993). Mothers completed the IBQ-R, and research assistants completed the IBR following home visit activities.

Results: Subjective measures of prenatal tobacco use (DES and TLFB) were highly correlated during the 2nd (r = .83, p < .0001) and 3rd (r = .58, p < .05) trimesters. Umbilical cord cotinine correlated moderately with TLFB tobacco use in the 2nd trimester (r = .36, p < .05), and marginally with DES tobacco use during the 2nd trimester (r = .34, p = .06).
Umbilical cord cotinine level was the only tobacco use measure that correlated with infant temperament. Cotinine level was positively correlated with IBQ negativity (r = .43, p < .05), and marginally correlated with IBR fearfulness (r = -.45, p =.07).
Conclusion
Mothers’ reports of prenatal tobacco use during the second trimester are highly consistent, regardless of measure. There is less agreement among subjective measures in the third trimester, and between subjective and objective measures. Only objective measures of tobacco use correlated with infant temperament. Follow-up analyses will examine other outcomes, including observed negative affect and general cognitive ability.

Authors

• Kirsten McLaughlin, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
  Presenting Author

• Melissa Grimes, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
  Non-Presenting Author

• Marie Camerota, UNC-Chapel Hill
  Non-Presenting Author