Teenage and adult pregnancy: A differential relationship between socio-economic status and smoking

Abstract

Smoking occurs frequently during pregnancy, thereby putting mother and child at health risks. Low socio-economic status is a risk factor for smoking. To investigate the relationship between smoking and low income in teenage and adult pregnancy, which is an important measure of poor socioeconomic status. The authors used subject-level data from the US NSDUH database, which contains information on pregnancies and smoking. Teenage pregnancy is associated with higher, whereas adult pregnancy with lower prevalence of smoking, compared to the age-matched female population. The association between income and smoking is age-dependent. Among adults there is an inverse relationship (high income -- low-risk of smoking), while in teenage pregnancy smoking increases with income. To investigate in teenage and adult pregnancy the relationship between smoking and low income, which is an important measure of poor socio-economic status. Higher socioeconomic status may be associated with risky behaviour, thereby increasing both the risk of smoking and early pregnancy.