ArticlePaediatric and perinatal epidemiology2020
Lifestyle and Early Achievement in Families (LEAF) study: Design of an ambidirectional cohort study of prenatal marijuana exposure and child development and behaviour.
Article in Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 18 citations in OpenAlex.
- Meta-analysis of maternal and neonatal outcomes of cannabis use in pregnancy current to March 2024.Maternal health, neonatology and perinatology · 2025Review
- Prenatal Cannabis Use and Neonatal Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.JAMA pediatrics · 2025Article
- Associations of prenatal stress with 5-year-old children's executive function in a low socioeconomic status population.Development and psychopathology · 2025Article
- Longitudinal Associations Between Cannabis Use during Pregnancy and Child Cognitive, Motor, and Language Development at 2 Years Old.Maternal and child health journal · 2025Article
- Exploration of Differences between Women Who Do and Do Not Disclose Their Marijuana Use during Pregnancy.American journal of perinatology · 2024Article
- Prenatal cannabinoid exposure: why expecting individuals should take a pregnancy pause from using cannabinoid products.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2023Review
- Influence of prenatal cannabinoid exposure on early development and beyond.Advances in drug and alcohol research · 2023Review
- Marijuana use and sleep quality during pregnancy.The journal of maternal-fetal & neonatal medicine : the official journal of the European Association of Perinatal Medicine, the Federation of Asia and Oceania Perinatal Societies, the International Society of Perinatal Obstetricians · 2022Article
- Risk Perceptions about Cannabis Use and Receipt of Health-Related Information during Pregnancy.American journal of health promotion : AJHP · 2022Article
- Understanding Relationships Between Fetal Health Locus of Control (FHLC) and Maternal Marijuana Use During Pregnancy.Clinical nursing research · 2022Article
- Long-term effects of prenatal cannabis exposure: Pathways to adolescent and adult outcomes.Pharmacology, biochemistry, and behavior · 2022Review
- Review
- Behavioral and Cognitive Differences in Early Childhood related to Prenatal Marijuana Exposure.Journal of applied developmental psychologyArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundMarijuana is the most-used illicit substance during pregnancy in the USA, but only two cohort studies, begun over 30 years ago, were specifically established to assess the association of pregnancy use with childhood outcomes. They found use to be associated with specific deficits in executive function at 8+ years, but did not focus on these outcomes earlier in life when intervention may be more successful. Two general purpose cohorts found increased aggression in exposed female toddlers and increased behavioural problems and tic disorders in exposed school-age children.
objectivesThe Lifestyle and Early Achievement in Families (LEAF) study assesses the association of in utero marijuana exposure, documented prospectively by biomarker, self-report, and medical records, with executive function and aggression at age 3½-7 years.
methodsThis ambidirectional cohort (historical cohort with continued follow-up) includes women enrolled in the Perinatal Research Repository during prenatal care at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and their children, recontacted 3½-7 years post-birth. Children complete 1-2 study visits including cognitive testing, behavioural observation, and maternal and teacher report of behaviour. Family and social environmental factors are assessed.
resultsChild follow-up began in September 2016; visits continue through August 2020. There are 362 eligible children; 32% had mothers who used marijuana during pregnancy, 10% of mothers completed college, and 23% did not complete high school. Mean maternal age at study registration in pregnancy was 26.4 years, and 63% of mothers were African American. To date, 268 children have completed at least 1 study visit.
conclusionsThe LEAF Study will document the association of prenatal marijuana exposure with development and behaviour in the current era when marijuana is more potent than when previous cohorts were studied. The results may inform policy and interventions to counsel reproductive-aged women about the risks of use during pregnancy and guide prevention and treatment of adverse effects among children.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.