Associations between paracetamol (acetaminophen) intake between 18 and 32 weeks gestation and neurocognitive outcomes in the child: A longitudinal cohort study.

BACKGROUND: The majority of epidemiological studies concerning possible adverse effects of paracetamol (acetaminophen) in pregnancy have been focussed on childhood asthma. Initial results of a robust association have been confirmed in several studies. Recently, a few cohort studies have looked at particular neurocognitive outcomes, and several have implicated hyperactivity. OBJECTIVES: In order to confirm these findings, further information and results are required. Here, we assess whether paracetamol intake between 18 and 32 weeks gestation is associated with childhood behavioural and cognitive outcomes using a large population. METHODS: Data collected by the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) at 32 weeks gestation and referring to the period from 18 to 32 weeks, identified 43.9% of women having taken paracetamol. We used an exposome analysis first to determine the background factors associated with pregnant women taking the drug, and then allowed for those factors to assess associations with child outcomes (measured using regression analyses). RESULTS: We identified 15 variables independently associated with taking paracetamol in this time period, which were used as potential confounders. Of the 135 neurocognitive variables considered, adjusting for the likelihood of false discovery, we identified 56 outcomes for adjusted analyses. Adjustment identified 12 showing independent associations with paracetamol use at P < .05, four of which were at P < .0001 (all related to child behaviours reported by the mother at 42 and 47 months; eg conduct problems: adjusted mean score + 0.22 (95% confidence interval 0.10, 0.33)). There were few associations with behavioural or neurocognitive outcomes after age 7-8 years, whether reported by the mother or the teacher. CONCLUSIONS: If paracetamol use in mid-to-late pregnancy has an adverse effect on child neurocognitive outcome, it appears to mainly relate to the pre-school period. It is important that these results be tested using other datasets or methodologies before assuming that they are causal.

The relationship between parental locus of control and adolescent obesity: a longitudinal pre-birth cohort.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether parental external locus of control (ELOC) measured in pregnancy is related to obesity in their adolescent offspring and whether the child's own ELOC measured at age 8 contributes. To determine whether associations are due to types of behaviour used by externally oriented participants. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Longitudinal pre-birth cohort study (Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents & Children (ALSPAC)) set in south-west England. Families whose adolescent offspring had their fat mass measured using DXA scans at any of ages 9, 11, 13, 15 or 17 (range, n = 7329 at 9 to n = 4850 at 17). The primary outcome measures were mean fat mass, and obesity measured as ≥85th centile of fat mass at each age. RESULTS: We found that parent and child externality was associated with greater fat mass [e.g., mean difference at age 15 associated with maternal ELOC was 1.70 kg (+1.17, +2.24), paternal ELOC 1.49 kg (+0.89, +2.09) and child's ELOC 1.50 kg (+0.93, +2.06) (P < 0.0001)]. Further analyses showed that factors associated with parent behaviour such as smoking in pregnancy, failure to breast feed, and early introduction of solids accounted for a third of the excess fat mass associated with maternal externality, whereas aspects of diet and energetic activity in later childhood were not. Further analyses demonstrated that the child's own ELOC only became independently important for adolescent obesity from age 13, whereas the mothers' and to a lesser extent the fathers' ELOC were associated at each age. CONCLUSIONS: There is increased interest in determining factors that may be involved in the aetiology and maintenance of excessive weight in adolescents. We demonstrate that parental locus of control is a promising candidate. We suggest interventions to change parents' locus of control towards internality in pregnancy might have long-term preventative benefits on the likelihood of obesity in the offspring.

Events associated with stability and change in adult locus of control orientation over a six-year period.

Although locus of control (LOC) has been the focus of thousands of studies we know little about how or if it changes over time and what is associated with change. Our lack of knowledge stems in part from the past use of cross-sectional and not longitudinal methodologies to study small numbers of participants from non-representative populations. The purpose of the present study was to use a longitudinal design with a large representative population to provide relevant information concerning the stability and change of adult LOC. Before the birth of their child, and again six years later, mothers and their partners participating in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) completed LOC tests and structured stressful events surveys. Analyses revealed that stresses experienced in relationships with spouses, friends and family, financial stability and job security, and illness/smoking were associated with changes in LOC. Results suggest substantial variation of LOC within spousal/parent dyads and moderate stability of LOC over time for both men and women. Stressors associated with change in LOC may be possible candidates when considering interventions to modify LOC expectancies.

The external housing environment of participants in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC): a resource for studies of influences on health.

Background: Early life environmental health exposures related to housing can have a significant impact on an individual's physical and mental health and physical development. Housing exposures can fall into two main areas - a representation of social circumstances and physical conditions. Methods: During pregnancy and post-delivery, self-completion questionnaires concerning the housing environment were administered to the ALSPAC (Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents & Children) study mothers and their partners until the study offspring were aged 18. Data collected included types of housing, housing tenure, numbers of rooms in the home, whether shared or sole use of kitchen and indoor flushing toilet, household moves, Council Tax band, difficulties in affording rent/mortgage and becoming homeless. Here we also describe the historic development of housing in the Bristol and surrounding Avon areas. Results: Data collected included the tenure (e.g., owned/rented) of the home, its size (indexed by the number of rooms), the presence of over-crowding (measured by the number of residents per room), presence of amenities, and frequency of household moves. This information was collected on over 13,000 women during pregnancy >8000 at age 10 and >4000 at 18 years. Council Tax bands were asked at 10 and 18 years. Conclusions: This is the first of two Data Notes on the housing type and housing circumstances of the families enrolled in ALSPAC. The second Data Note will detail their internal housing conditions. The data provides an excellent resource for researchers when considering the influences of housing on physical and mental health and development.

Maternal reports of morbidity during the index ALSPAC pregnancy.

Within the ALSPAC (Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children) resource, information concerning the health of the mother during pregnancy is available from three sources: (i) computerised data collected by midwives after the delivery of the baby, known as the STORK database; (ii) data abstracted by ALSPAC staff from detailed medical obstetric records, and (iii) reports by mothers during pregnancy, and shortly after delivery using structured questionnaires completed at home. In this Data Note we focus on source (iii), and detail the information obtained from these mothers concerning their health, signs and symptoms together with medications and supplements taken during pregnancy. We also describe how the data can be accessed.

Unexpected Associations between the Number of FRAXE Repeats in Boys and Evidence of Diabetes in Their Mothers and Maternal Grandmothers.

The FRAXE section of the FMR2 gene, located on the X chromosome, contains varying numbers of trinucleotide repeats; boys with over 200 repeats tend to have mild cognitive impairments, though this is rare. Little is known, however, concerning the phenotypes of individuals with smaller numbers of repeats. Here we answer the research question as to whether the health of ancestors of boys from whom the relevant X chromosome was inherited differed in any way according to the number of FRAXE repeats. Numbers of FRAXE repeats in 5057 boys from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) were assessed. The distribution was bimodal, with the second smaller distribution starting at 22 repeats. We tested whether possession of 22+ repeats was associated with differences in the health of mothers (who share the X chromosome) and maternal grandmothers (half of whom share it). Female ancestors of boys with >21 repeats compared with <22 showed that maternal grandmothers (MGM) and mothers (M) had an increased risk of diabetes: MGM Type I odds ratio (OR) 2.40 [95%CI: 1.07,5.38]; MGM Type II OR 1.61 [0.96,2.70]; M OR 1.95 [0.96,3.94] using self-reported questionnaire measures. These results were confirmed from maternal medical records which revealed an increased level of diabetes [OR 2.40 (1.16,4.96)] and an increased risk of repeated glycosuria during pregnancy [OR 1.60 (1.08,2.36)]. We tested numbers of FRAXA repeats and showed no such associations, indicating that the findings were not associated with triploid repeats in general. If these findings are replicated elsewhere, there are at least three possible interpretations: (i) maternal diabetes/prediabetes results in an increased number of FRAXE repeats; (ii) women with high numbers of FRAXE repeats are at increased risk of diabetes; or (iii) some common factor, e.g. genomic instability, results in both diabetes and increased repeats.

Maternal prenatal vitamin B12 intake is associated with speech development and mathematical abilities in childhood.

Deficiencies of many nutrients in pregnancy have adverse effects on fetal brain development with consequent impaired cognitive function in childhood. However, it is unclear whether deficiencies of vitamin B12 prenatally are harmful to the developing fetus. We therefore used the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children to test the hypothesis that cognitive outcomes in childhood are reduced if their mothers consumed a diet low in vitamin B12 during pregnancy. A detailed exposome analysis was used to identify 9 factors independently associated with low vitamin B12 intake. These were taken into account in each of 26 outcome analyses. Results showed that the children of women with the lowest 10% intake of B12 were at increased risk of poor vocabulary at 24 months, reduced ability at combining words at 38 months, poor speech intelligibility at 6 years, poor mathematics comprehension at school years 4 and 6 (ages 8-9 and 10-11 years), and poor results on the national mathematics tests (age 13). There were no such significant adjusted associations for reading or spelling abilities, or for verbal or full-scale IQ (Intelligence Quotient) at 8 or at 15. Thus, we have confirmed that there are adverse effects on the child's development if the pregnant woman has a low intake of vitamin B12, and we have shown that these are specific to certain speech and mathematical abilities.

Traumatic childhood events of parents enrolled in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC).

Background: Early life experiences can have a significant impact on an individual's later behaviour, the way they view the world, their beliefs and their success at forming strong interpersonal relationships. These factors may subsequently influence the way that the individual may parent their children, which in turn may have an effect on their child's behaviour, mental health and world view. Research has linked early traumatic life experiences in the parent's childhood to disorganised attachment to their own child. In this paper we describe the data collected from parents enrolled in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) on traumatic events experienced during their childhood, so that it can act as a resource for researchers in the future when considering outcomes on the adult, their children and grandchildren. Methods: Data were collected via multiple questionnaires completed by parents enrolled into the ALSPAC study. During pregnancy and post-delivery, questionnaires were administered between 1990 and 1992 via post to the study mothers and their partners. Data were collected on life events including bereavement, sexual abuse, physical abuse, abandonment, neglect, memories of childhood and accidents. Other reports of traumatic events in childhood were reported by parents using free text. This can be made available to researchers for coding on request.

The Relationship Between Locus of Control and Religious Behavior and Beliefs in a Large Population of Parents: An Observational Study.

The purpose of the present study was to examine, in a large representative population, the association between self-reported religious beliefs, attitudes and behavior and locus of control (LOC) of reinforcement as defined by Rotter. Results of previous research have failed to clearly determine what, if any, associations existed. In this study, analyses showed individuals with an internal LOC were not only more likely to believe in a divine power, to admit a divine power helped them in the past, to ask for help from a divine power in the future, to attend places of worship more often than those who were external, but also that they were significantly more likely to maintain their religious beliefs and behaviors over a 6 year period compared to those with an external orientation. Additional exploratory analyses by gender revealed that compared to internal men, internal women were significantly more involved in all indicators of religious belief and action except for attending church weekly and obtaining help from religious leaders where internal men were higher. The present findings support the association between the generalized expectancy of LOC as defined by Rotter and religious beliefs, attitudes and behaviors.

Grandchild's IQ is associated with grandparental environments prior to the birth of the parents.

Background. Despite convincing animal experiments demonstrating the potential for environmental exposures in one generation to have demonstrable effects generations later, there have been few relevant human studies. Those that have been undertaken have demonstrated associations, for example, between exposures such as nutrition and cigarette smoking in the grandparental generation and outcomes in grandchildren. We hypothesised that such transgenerational associations might be associated with the IQ of the grandchild, and that it would be likely that there would be differences in results between the sexes of the grandparents, parents, and children. Method. We used three-generational data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC).  We incorporated environmental factors concerning grandparents (F0) and focussed on three exposures that we hypothesised may have independent transgenerational associations with the IQ of the grandchildren (F2): (i) UK Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at grandparental birth year; (ii) whether grandfather smoked; and (iii) whether the grandmother smoked in the relevant pregnancy. Potential confounders were ages of grandparents when the relevant parent was born, ethnic background, education level and social class of each grandparent. Results. After adjustment, all three target exposures had specific associations with measures of IQ in the grandchild. Paternal grandfather smoking was associated with reduced total IQ at 15 years; maternal grandfather smoking with reduced performance IQ at 8 years and reduced total IQ at 15.  Paternal grandmother smoking in pregnancy was associated with reduced performance IQ at 8, especially in grandsons. GDP at grandparents' birth produced independent associations of reduced IQ with higher GDP; this was particularly true of paternal grandmothers. Conclusions. These results are complex and need to be tested in other datasets. They highlight the need to consider possible transgenerational associations in studying developmental variation in populations.

Intolerance of loud sounds in childhood: Is there an intergenerational association with grandmaternal smoking in pregnancy?

Recent research using the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) demonstrated an association between maternal grandmother smoking in pregnancy and the autistic traits of impaired social communication and repetitive behaviour in granddaughters but not grandsons, but of paternal grandmother smoking and early development of myopia in the grandchild. Here we investigate whether grandmaternal smoking in pregnancy is associated with intolerance to loud sounds. ALSPAC collected information during the index pregnancy from the study parents on the smoking habits, social and other features of their own parents. Maternal report when the child was aged 6 and 13 included hating loud sounds; at age 11 the child was tested for volume preference for listening to music through headphones. Statistical analysis compared results for grandchildren in relation to whether a parent had been exposed in utero to maternal smoking, adjusted for their grandparents' social and demographic attributes. We hypothesised that there would be sex differences in the effects of grandmaternal prenatal smoking, based on previous intergenerational studies. For 6-year-old children maternal report of intolerance to loud noise was more likely in grandsons if the maternal grandmother had smoked [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 1.27; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.03,1.56; P = 0.025], but less likely in girls [AOR 0.82; 95%CI 0.63,1.07] Pinteraction <0.05. If the paternal grandmother had smoked the grandchildren were less likely to be intolerant, especially girls. The objective measure of choice of volume for music through headphones showed that grandsons of both maternal and paternal smoking grandmothers were less likely to choose high volumes compared with granddaughters (P<0.05). In line with our prior hypothesis of sex differences, we showed that grandsons were more intolerant of loud sounds than granddaughters particularly at age 6, and this was confirmed by objective measures at age 11.

Investigating Possible Trans/Intergenerational Associations With Obesity in Young Adults Using an Exposome Approach.

Animal experiments demonstrate ways in which an exposure in one generation can be reflected in a variety of outcomes in later generations. In parallel human observational studies have shown associations between grandparental and parental exposures to cigarette smoking and/or nutrition and growth and survival of the grandchild. These studies have controlled for just a few confounders selected ad hoc. Here we use an exposome approach (using all available measures of exposure) to determine trans/inter-generational factors that may be important in studying environmental factors associated with fat mass in young human adults. The study takes advantage of the rich data available in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). We test associations with features of grandparents (G0) and the childhood of the parents (G1) of 24-year olds (G2). We hypothesized that intergenerational associations would be revealed, particularly with exposure to cigarette smoke, and that these would vary with the sexes of all three generations. The study exposome analyzed 172 exposures to the maternal line and 182 to the paternal line. A series of stepwise regression analyses reduced the initial 40 unadjusted factors (P < 0.05) to eight independent features on the maternal line, and of 26 on the paternal line to five. We found strong associations between the father starting to smoke cigarettes regularly before age 11 and increased fat mass in his adult children (unadjusted = +7.82 [95% CI +2.75, +12.90] Kg; adjusted = +11.22 [+5.23, +17.22] Kg); this association was stronger in male offspring. In addition, when the paternal grandmother had smoked in pregnancy her adult granddaughters, but not grandsons had elevated mean fat mass (interaction with sex after adjustment, P = 0.001). The exposome technique identified other factors that were independently associated with fat mass in young adults. These may be useful in identifying appropriate confounders in other more proximal analyses, but also may identify features that may be on epigenetic pathways leading to increased fat mass in subsequent generations. We acknowledge that the results need to be replicated in other cohorts and encourage further linkage of outcomes with previous generational exposures, particularly along the paternal line.

Maternal Locus of Control in Pregnancy and Reading and Spelling Abilities of the Offspring: A Longitudinal Birth Cohort Study.

Maternal locus of control (LOC) as measured in pregnancy has been shown to be associated with parenting attitudes and behaviors as well as with children's comprehension of mathematical and scientific concepts. The present study evaluates whether the child's emergent literacy skills are similarly associated with maternal LOC: i.e., do children of prenatally externally oriented mothers perform less well on literacy tasks compared with their peers whose mothers are prenatally internally oriented. Prenatal measures collected within a United Kingdom birth cohort (ALSPAC) including a maternal LOC measure together with behavior and lifestyle details were analyzed. Later in childhood, offspring at ages 7 and 9 were tested by ALSPAC for spelling, phoneme awareness, reading comprehension, speed and accuracy. All achievement test scores showed a deficit among children of prenatally externally oriented mothers as compared to children of internally controlled women. Further analysis found that differences in diet, lifestyle and mother/child activities mediated approximately 60% of the deficit between children of external and internal mothers. A sensitivity analysis using national reading test results demonstrated similar results with these children. If further research confirms a causal relationship, programs to increase internality in adolescent girls or newly pregnant women may result in long-term benefits to their future offspring.

Author Correction: Grandmothers' smoking in pregnancy is associated with a reduced prevalence of early-onset myopia.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Grandmothers' smoking in pregnancy is associated with a reduced prevalence of early-onset myopia.

Myopia (near sightedness) is the most common vision disorder resulting in visual impairment worldwide. We tested the hypothesis that intergenerational, non-genetic heritable effects influence refractive development, using grandparental prenatal smoking as a candidate exposure. Using data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), we found that the prevalence of myopia at age 7 was lower if the paternal grandmother had smoked in pregnancy, an association primarily found among grandsons compared to granddaughters. There was a weaker, non-sex-specific, reduction in the prevalence of myopia at age 7 if the maternal grandmother had smoked in pregnancy. For children who became myopic later (between 7 and 15 years of age) there were no associations with either grandmother smoking. Differences between early and late-onset myopia were confirmed with DNA methylation patterns: there were very distinct and strong associations with methylation for early-onset but not later-onset myopia.

The FRAXA and FRAXE allele repeat size of boys from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC).

The FRAXA and FRAXE alleles of the FMR1 and FMR2 genes located on the X chromosome contain varying numbers of trinucleotide repeats. Large numbers of repeats at FRAXA (full mutations) manifest as Fragile X syndrome, associated with mental impairment that affects males more severely. In this paper, we present the dataset of frequencies of FRAXA and FRAXE repeat size extracted from DNA samples collected from boys enrolled in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). DNA data were extracted from samples collected in ALSPAC clinics from several types of samples: cord blood, venepuncture blood taken at 43 months, 61 months, seven years or nine years. The DNA was amplified at FRAXA and FRAXE using fluorescent PCR in the Wessex Regional Genetics Laboratory, Salisbury District Hospital. The mean repeat size for FRAXA is 28.92 (S.D. 5.44), the median 30 and the range 8 to 68. There were particularly high numbers of boys with repeat sizes of 20 (10.67%) and 23 (7.35%). The mean repeat size for FRAXE is 17.41 (S.D. 3.94), with median of 16 and range of 0 to 61. There is a relatively high degree of variation of the FRAXA repeat size particularly and we suggest the extensive data available from the ALSPAC study opens up areas of research into understanding phenotypes associated with relatively unexplored repeat sizes. This could be particularly interesting for the lower repeat sizes occurring with high frequency at FRAXA in this population. As the data can be linked to exposures and phenotypes, it will provide a resource for researchers worldwide.

Maternal Prenatal External Locus of Control and Reduced Mathematical and Science Abilities in Their Offspring: A Longitudinal Birth Cohort Study.

A personality scale that identifies individuals' general attitude to what happens to them as largely a matter of luck or fate or of powerful others (externality) or whether they feel they can influence the consequences (internality) is known as locus of control (LOC). A continuous scale can distinguish those who are more external from those who are more internal. Lower scholastic achievement is associated with externality and higher achievement with internality, but little is known about the association of parental LOC on children's academic performance. Data collected within the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) are analyzed to assess associations between mothers' LOC orientation, measured during pregnancy, and their children's abilities in mathematics and science reasoning. We found that maternal external LOC is associated with lower scores for her child assessed by tests measuring mental arithmetic as well as understanding of mathematical and scientific concepts. Additionally, we determined the extent to which three separate sets of factors previously found to positively influence the developing child's ability mediate these findings: (a) perinatal and infant exposures, such as prenatal smoking, binge drinking, consumption of oily fish, and postnatal breast feeding; (b) parenting attitudes and strategies; and (c) the interface of the parents with their child's school. The three factors identify at least 50% of the mechanism by which maternal externality is associated with poor academic outcomes in her child and may be candidates for further investigation as possible intervention targets.

Data relating to change in locus of control orientation of parents overtime (from pre-birth to 20 years later), participating in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC).

Locus of control (LOC) measures an individual׳s expectancy regarding their ability to affect what happens to them based on their behavior. Those with an internal LOC (ILOC) believe their own behavior influences what happens to them. Those with an external LOC (ELOC) perceive that what happens to them is beyond their control (i.e. determined by luck, fate, chance or powerful others) [1]. A vast amount of research (mainly cross-sectional) suggests that an ELOC is associated with many adverse personal, social, academic and health outcomes. LOC data were uniquely collected prenatally from over 12,000 pregnant women and their partners enrolled in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). The LOC measure used was a shortened version of the adult version of the Nowicki-Strickland Internal-External locus of control scale. This was administered to the mothers within self-completion questionnaires at three-time points: during pregnancy, at 6 and at 18 years post-partum. In parallel, self-completion questionnaires containing the same LOC questions were completed by their partners during pregnancy, at 6 and 20 years later. ALSPAC LOC data are unique in that they measured orientation over time and on a much larger sample of respondents than is usual. We describe the scale used, why it was chosen and how individual scores changed over time.

Are the early childhood antecedents of men's external locus of control similar to those of their female partners?

Background: The concept of locus of control of reinforcement was introduced by Julian Rotter and has been the focus of intense research for nearly half a century.  Surprisingly little research has been directed at clarifying antecedents of locus of control (LOC) orientations in adult men apart from a few small studies. We previously identified a number of independent antecedents associated with women's LOC, including features of their parents and early childhood. This raised the question as to whether these factors were also associated with the development of LOC in men. Methods: To identify antecedents of LOC orientations in a representative population of women we previously analysed information concerning characteristics of their parents and their own childhood experiences using pregnant women taking part in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC).  Here we use the same design to determine whether their male partners have similar antecedents of LOC orientation. As previously, we use a hypothesis-free exposome technique using all available information on the parents and childhood of the individuals. Results: We show that men had many of the same antecedent characteristics as the women - in particular, their mother's year of birth and father's social group, being exposed to cigarette smoke prenatally, starting to smoke regularly before the age of 11, and having a friend die were all associated with being external. Associations of internality common to both were warm maternal care, being breast fed, being born in an area other than that where they currently live, attending boarding school and having a parent admitted to hospital. Conclusions: In general, the antecedents of male external and internal personalities have many similarities to those of women, thus providing some features to inform the possible theoretical background as to how LOC might develop over time.

Parental External Locus of Control in Pregnancy Is Associated with Subsequent Teacher Ratings of Negative Behavior in Primary School: Findings from a British Birth Cohort.

The purpose of the present study was to examine whether parents' locus of control (LOC) obtained before the birth of their child predicts the child's behavior at school in School Years 3 (ages 7-8) and 6 (ages 10-11). A modified version of the adult Nowicki-Strickland internal-external locus of control scale was completed by mothers and fathers in their own home during pregnancy. Externality was defined as a score greater than the median and internality as equal to, or less than, the median. Outcomes were the five individual subscales and the total difficulties of Goodman's strengths and difficulties' questionnaire completed by the children's class teachers at the end of School Years 3 and 6. As predicted, it was found that the greater the presence of externality in the parents, the greater the increased risk of the child's adverse behavior as rated by teachers. The risk was generally greatest if both parents were external and lowest if both were internal. There was a consistent relationship at both Year 3 and Year 6 between maternal externality in pregnancy and children's emotional difficulties. However, for other behaviors, the pattern of associations varied depending on whether the mother or father was external, the type of adverse behavior, and the School Year in which children were assessed. Prenatal parental externality appears to be significantly associated with a variety of children's negative behaviors. Of note was the finding that fathers' as well as mothers' LOC was important in determining children's outcomes. Implications of the complexity of the results for the role parents may play in children's personality and adjustment are discussed.