title: Longitudinal effects of prenatal exposure to air pollutants on self-regulatory capacities and social competence.
abstract: We evaluated the influence of prenatal exposure to widespread urban air pollutants on the development of self-regulation and social competence in a longitudinal prospective cohort of children born to nonsmoking minority women in New York City.
  
  
  
  Air pollutant exposure was estimated categorically by level of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)-DNA adducts in maternal blood collected at delivery, providing a biomarker of maternal exposure to PAH over a 2- to 3-month period. Deficient emotional self-regulation (DESR) was defined as moderate elevations on three specific scales of the child behavior checklist (anxious/depressed, aggressive behavior, and attention problems). We used generalized estimating equations to assess the influence of prenatal exposure to PAH on DESR in children at 3-5, 7, 9, and 11 years of age, adjusted for gender and race/ethnicity. Next, we assessed the association of prenatal exposure to PAH with social competence, as measured by the social responsiveness scale (SRS), the association of impaired self-regulation with social competence, and whether impairment in self-regulation mediated the association of prenatal exposure to PAH with social competence.
  
  
  
  We detected a significant interaction (at p = .05) of exposure with time, in which the developmental trajectory of self-regulatory capacity was delayed in the exposed children. Multiple linear regression revealed a positive association between presence of PAH-DNA adducts and problems with social competence (p < .04), level of dysregulation and problems with social competence (p < .0001), and evidence that self-regulation mediates the association of prenatal exposure to PAH with social competence (p < .0007).
  
  
  
  These data suggest that prenatal exposure to PAH produces long-lasting effects on self-regulatory capacities across early and middle childhood, and that these deficits point to emerging social problems with real-world consequences for high-risk adolescent behaviors in this minority urban cohort.
authors.affiliation: Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.|New York State Psychiatric Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Amy E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Margolis
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Julie B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Herbstman
authors.affiliation: New York State Psychiatric Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Katie S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.affiliation: Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Valerie K
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Deliang
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Ya
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Shuang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Frederica P
authors.initials: FP
authors.lastname: Perera
authors.affiliation: Institute for the Developing Mind, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.|Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Bradley S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Peterson
authors.affiliation: Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Virginia A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Rauh
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000009:adverse effects*; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000097:blood*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000523:psychology*; D000068356:Self-Control / Q000523:psychology*; D066107:Social Skills
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons
keywords: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; prenatal exposure; self-regulation; social competence