Prenatal Cannabis Use Not Linked to Autism Spectrum Disorder

MONDAY, Oct. 28, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Prenatal cannabis use is not associated with child autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or with child early developmental delays, according to two studies published online Oct. 18 in JAMA Network Open.

Lyndsay A. Avalos, Ph.D., M.P.H., from Kaiser Permanente Northern California in Pleasanton, and colleagues examined the association between maternal cannabis use in early pregnancy and ASD in children in a population-based retrospective birth cohort study. The study cohort included 178,948 singleton pregnancies among 146,296 unique pregnant individuals, 4.7 percent of whom screened positive for cannabis use. The researchers found that 3.6 percent of children were diagnosed with ASD. Maternal prenatal cannabis use was not associated with child ASD after adjustment for maternal characteristics. After confounder adjustment, no statistically significant associations were observed when self-reported frequency of cannabis use was assessed.

In a second study, Avalos and colleagues examined associations between maternal prenatal cannabis use in early pregnancy and child early developmental delays in a cohort study involving 119,976 children born to 106,240 unique individuals followed up to age 5.5 years or younger. Maternal prenatal cannabis use was documented in 5.6 percent of pregnancies. The researchers observed no association between maternal prenatal cannabis use and child speech and language disorders, global developmental delays, or motor delays. The frequency of maternal prenatal cannabis use was not associated with child early developmental delays.

"Additional studies are needed to evaluate cannabis use throughout pregnancy, mode of administration and product strength, as well as potential factors that may mitigate adverse associations and neurodevelopmental outcomes that may emerge later in childhood," Avalos and colleagues write in the second study.

One author of the second study disclosed receiving grants from the Gerber Foundation.

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