Causal analysis of maternal substance use during pregnancy and offspring neurodevelopmental outcomes (360G-Wellcome-203776_Z_16_A)

Foetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) describes the symptoms of children born to mothers who used alcohol heavily in pregnancy. Intellectual disability, learning disorders and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often occur at the same time as FAS. Lower levels of alcohol use during pregnancy may also be associated with ASD and learning disability in the child. Whether this is causal or not is unclear. I aim to further investigate whether alcohol use by mothers during pregnancy is causally associated with childhood ASD and learning disability. To do this I will use a variety of statistical techniques which may improve our understanding. These techniques include comparisons of pregnancies in the same family in which the mother did and did not drink, comparison of mother and father’s drinking behaviours and the use of genetic methods which help to determine causality. These analyses will be undertaken in several large population based birth cohorts. The project will help to expand our understanding of the non-genetic causes of ASD and learning/intellectual disability. If a causal association is found this would provide support for government policies that favour more cautious guidelines to alcohol consumption during pregnancy.