Maternal cannabis use disorder linked to higher autism risk in children, study finds

By Dr. Sanchari Sinha Dutta, Ph.D.May 23 2024Reviewed by Benedette Cuffari, M.Sc. A study published in Psychiatry Research identifies a link between maternal cannabis use disorder and an increased risk of autism spectrum disorder .

The use of cannabis has significantly increased over the past two decades due to the legalization of medicinal and recreational cannabis use, as well as shifts in illicit drug policies. In fact, cannabis has become the most commonly used illicit drug during pregnancy. Study design The current study used data obtained from the New South Wales Perinatal Data Collection , which includes information on an all-live birth cohort from January 2003 to December 2005. The dataset was linked with the Admitted Patients Data Collection and outpatient visit records to obtain information on maternal CUD and offspring ASD.

Among children diagnosed with ASD, 32% were from poor socioeconomic backgrounds, 14% were exposed to prenatal smoking, 10% were born preterm, 9% had low birth weight, 2.4% were exposed to maternal prenatal depressive disorder, 1.9% were exposed to maternal prenatal opioid use disorder, and 1.9% were exposed to maternal prenatal anxiety disorder.

Association between maternal cannabis use disorder and ASD risk in offspring A 3.5-times increased risk of ASD was observed among children born to mothers with prenatal CUD as compared to non-exposed offspring. Consistently significant associations were also observed between pre-pregnancy, during pregnancy, and perinatal CUD and the risk of ASD in offspring. All observed associations remained unchanged after adjusting for potential confounding factors.

Cannabis Children Birth Weight Brain Genetics In Utero Maternal Smoking Pregnancy Prenatal Psychiatry Research Smoking

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