The effect of lead exposure on behavior problems in preschool children.

OBJECTIVES: Interpreting associations between lead exposure and child behavior problems is difficult because studies have not controlled for sociodemographic confounders or have used shed teeth to mark exposure. This study explored associations between blood lead and preschool behavior. METHODS: Children from a smelter town and a non-lead-exposed town in Yugoslavia were followed up prospectively from pregnancy through age 3. The Child Behavior Checklist was used to assess behavior problems in 379 3-year-olds, controlling for sociodemographic factors and difficult infant temperament. RESULTS: Multiple regression revealed the expected significant associations between checklist subscales and sociodemographic factors, which explained 7% to 18% of the variance on the subscales. Concurrent blood lead explained a significant 1% to 4% of the variance on the Destructive and Withdrawn subscales. Earlier difficult temperament explained an additional 2% to 5% of the checklist variance. Scores on the Destructive subscale were consistently associated with blood lead. As blood lead increased from 10 to 20 micrograms/dL, subscale scores increased by approximately 0.5 points. CONCLUSIONS: Lead/behavior associations are significant but small compared with the effects of social factors.

Cardiac profile and disruptive behavior in boys at risk for delinquency.

The objective of this study was to examine associations in youth between antisocial behavior and cardiovascular profile. Younger brothers of adjudicated delinquents (N = 120) received a standardized psychiatric assessment and an assessment of three factors often studied in behavioral cardiology research: family history of hypertension, resting blood pressure, and obesity. As a group, relative to population norms, these youth exhibited signs of obesity and elevated blood pressure, with 30% of the sample appearing clinically obese and 24% having a blood pressure above the 90th percentile for national norms in their age cohort. Within the sample, score on the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) Delinquency scale correlated with blood pressure (r = .29-.34) and an index of obesity, weight/height3 (r = .20). Further, scores on the CBCL Delinquency, Aggression, and Externalizing scales were elevated in boys with a positive family history of hypertension. Among boys at risk for delinquency, disruptive psychopathology relates to factors often studied in behavioral cardiology research. Relationships between risk factors for ischemic cardiovascular disease and hostile behavior may be manifested with measures of disruptive psychopathology.