Early life exposure to cigarette smoke and depressive symptoms among women in midlife.
BACKGROUND
Active cigarette smoking has consistently been associated with depression, but little is known about the association between other cigarette smoke exposures, particularly in early life, and depression. We investigated whether exposures to maternal smoking during pregnancy (MSP) and childhood secondhand smoke (SHS) are associated with depressive symptoms in midlife.


METHODS
Pregnant mothers were enrolled and were provided data on maternal smoking and other parental characteristics. Female offspring were followed through age 7 years and again in midlife (age range = 38-44 years), when they provided data on smoking history, SHS across the life course, and current depressive symptoms using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D).


RESULTS
Participants exposed to MSP had a higher risk for depression (risk ratio [RR] = 1.83, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.08, 3.09) than those without MSP exposure. Relative to those with no MSP and no childhood SHS exposures, participants with MSP and childhood SHS had more than twice the risk of depressive symptoms (RR = 2.40, 95% CI = 1.07, 5.41). Further adjustment for adult factors, particularly current smoking, substantially reduced these associations (e.g., MSP vs. no MSP exposure: RR = 1.36 [95% CI = 0.75, 2.45]).


CONCLUSIONS
Early life exposure to cigarette smoke is associated with increased risk for depression in midlife, with the association largely mediated by active smoking. These findings support a role for early life cigarette exposures in shaping smoking and depression risks in later life, and they provide some support for the direction of smoke exposure influence on depression.
Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY;
Hoda
H
Elmasry
Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY; Department of Psychology, Queens College, and the Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, NY;
Renee D
RD
Goodwin
Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY; Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY.
Mary Beth
MB
Terry
Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY; Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY pt140@columbia.edu.
Parisa
P
Tehranifar
D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D018811:Maternal Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects*; D055815:Young Adult
D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution