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Binge drinking during pregnancy and psychosis-like experiences in the child at age 11

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Abstract

Increased frequency of psychosis-like experiences (PLEs) has been previously reported in children born to mothers with high general levels of alcohol intake during pregnancy. The aim of this study was to examine whether the risk of PLEs was likewise elevated in children prenatally exposed to binge drinking. Participants were 44,326 children and their mothers enrolled in the Danish National Birth Cohort from 1996–2002. Information on maternal binge drinking was collected twice in pregnancy by telephone interview and PLEs in the children were ascertained in a Web-based questionnaire at age 11. Analyses were carried out using weighted multinomial logistic regression models. Maternal binge drinking was relatively common among the participating women (27%). The adjusted relative risk ratio (RRR) for reporting one definite PLE symptom was 1.04 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.95–1.13) and 1.06 (95% CI 0.95–1.20) for two or more symptoms in children exposed compared to unexposed to binge drinking during pregnancy. Furthermore, no association was found when addressing frequency and timing of binge drinking, nor for various levels of average alcohol consumption. When sub-dividing PLEs into specific types of experiences however, a slightly, although non-significant, increased risk was observed for one specific delusional idea, receiving messages from radio/TV, following prenatal exposure to binge drinking. Our results provide no evidence of an association between maternal binge drinking, nor average alcohol consumption in pregnancy, and overall occurrence of PLEs in the offspring. However, our results indicated that binge drinking might be related to a specific PLE.

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Acknowledgements

The Danish National Birth Cohort was established with a significant grant from the Danish National Research Foundation. Additional support was obtained from the Danish Regional Committees, the Pharmacy Foundation, the Egmont Foundation, the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation, the Health Foundation and other minor grants. The DNBC Biobank has been supported by the Novo Nordisk Foundation and the Lundbeck Foundation. Follow-up of mothers and children have been supported by the Danish Medical Research Council (SSVF 0646, 271–08-0839/06–066023, O602-01042B, 0602-02738B), the Lundbeck Foundation (195/04, R100-A9193), The Innovation Fund Denmark 0603-00294B (09–067124), the Nordea Foundation (02–2013-2014), Aarhus Ideas (AU R9-A959-13-S804), University of Copenhagen Strategic Grant (IFSV 2012), and the Danish Council for Independent Research (DFF – 4183–00594 and DFF - 4183–00152).

Funding

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section of Epidemiology, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Øster Farimagsgade 5, P.O. Box 2099, 1014, Copenhagen K, Denmark

    Laura Stonor Gregersen, Julie Werenberg Dreier & Katrine Strandberg-Larsen

  2. National Centre for Register-Based Research, Aarhus University, Fuglesangs Allé 26, 8210, Aarhus V, Denmark

    Julie Werenberg Dreier

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  1. Laura Stonor Gregersen
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Correspondence to Laura Stonor Gregersen.

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Ethical standards

The study was approved by The Danish Data Protection Agency and performed in accordance with the ethical standards in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments. The study participation was based on written consent.

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Gregersen, L.S., Dreier, J.W. & Strandberg-Larsen, K. Binge drinking during pregnancy and psychosis-like experiences in the child at age 11. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 29, 385–393 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-019-01374-w

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