The Role of Maternal Early-Life and Later-Life Risk Factors On Offspring Birth Outcomes: Findings From a Three-Generational Study

Background: This study examines whether maternal early-life risk exposures increases the risk of delivering subsequent low birth weight infants (less than 2500 grams). There is growing interest in the role of maternal health in early-life and subsequent birth outcomes in offspring (Journal of Women's Health 2009; American Journal of Public Health, 96[11]:2032-2039), however there are few U.S.-based prospective studies that examine the influence of early-life exposures to known risk factors for adverse physical health and mental health on the subsequent birth weight of offspring.

Methods: Data are drawn from The Seattle Social Development Project (SSDP) and the SSDP Intergenerational Project (TIP). SSDP is a 19-year longitudinal study that has followed 808 youth from elementary school (1985) to adulthood with the goal of understanding prosocial and antisocial development across the lifespan. Many of the panel members, now adults, have given birth, and the project is following these children. These three generations—the original youth (designated generation 2 or “G2”), their G1 parent, and their G3 children form the samples for the analyses in these models. Using structural equation modeling, this paper examines the main effects of parental exposures to physical/sexual/verbal abuse and poverty during early childhood on birth weight outcomes in their children. Several potential moderators of this association are examined. These include G2 adolescent depression, G2 adolescent substance use, G2 low SES in adulthood, G2 prenatal tobacco and alcohol use, G2 adult depression, and G2 adult obesity. Data for the present study (N = 136) focused on SSDP (G2) mothers and their children (G3).

Results: Analyses revealed a direct pathway between G2 low childhood socioeconomic status and G3 offspring birth weight. Early childhood abuse among G2 respondents predicted G3 offspring birth weight through the mediated pathway including G2 adolescent substance use and G2 prenatal tobacco and alcohol use.

Conclusions and Implications: To our knowledge, this is the first study to examine both the direct and mediated pathways that link childhood abuse and childhood economic disadvantage to offspring birth weight. Our study highlights the importance of maternal early-life risk exposures in the occurrence of offspring low birth weight.