Objective: In this longitudinal study, we applied linear regression analyses to examine season of birth as related to symptoms of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in early midlife.
Method: We gathered longitudinal data on a prospective cohort of community-dwelling men and women (N = 548) followed from adolescence to early midlife.
Findings: The findings indicate that, as compared with participants who were born in the summer, those who were born in the spring (Beta = 0.34; t-statistic = 3.59; p < 0.001) had significantly more ADHD symptoms. In addition, exposure to maternal cigarette smoking in adolescence significantly intensified (p < 0.01) the association between season of birth and ADHD symptoms in early midlife.
Conclusion: These findings suggest that exposure to greater maternal maladaptive behaviors, such as cigarette smoking, may result in a greater vulnerability to other environmental risk factors, such as season of birth.
Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.