Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34780987›Full record

ArticleNeurotoxicology and teratology

Pre-pregnancy body mass index and parent and teacher-reported behavioral outcomes among offspring in childhood.

Samantha E Parker, Jeffrey M Carlson, Nehemiah Kebede, Martha M Werler, Patricia A Janulewicz

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Neurotoxicology and teratology. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
3.6field-weighted citation impact, top 6% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 27 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Family Anthropometric and Physiological Correlations With Parent- and Teacher-Rated Preschooler Socio-Behavioral Health.Journal of child and adolescent psychiatric nursing : official publication of the Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nurses, Inc · 2026
    Article
  4. A Review of the Effects of Maternal and Paternal Obesity on Neurodevelopmental Disorders and Related Neurobiology in Rodent and Human Offspring.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2026
    Review
  5. Article
  6. Review
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Samantha E ParkerDepartment of Epidemiology, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02118, United States of America. Electronic address: separker@bu.edu.
Jeffrey M CarlsonDepartment of Environmental Health, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02118, United States of America.
Nehemiah KebedeDepartment of Epidemiology, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02118, United States of America.
Martha M WerlerDepartment of Epidemiology, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02118, United States of America.
Patricia A JanulewiczDepartment of Environmental Health, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02118, United States of America.
Boston University · US

Funding

Hemifacial Microsomia: Psychosocial and Other SequelaeR01DE011939 · NIDCR · BOSTON UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CAMPUS · PI WERLER, MARTHA M. · 1997 to 2015
$7.3M
Coronary Heart Disease in Black Women: The Role of Adverse Pregnancy OutcomesK01HL133600 · NHLBI · BOSTON UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CAMPUS · PI KELLEHER, SAMANTHA PARKER · 2016 to 2020
$627k
NHLBI NIH HHS K01 HL133600NIDCR NIH HHS R01 DE011939
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivePre-pregnancy obesity has been linked to childhood neurodevelopmental outcomes, including autism and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. The aim of our study was to examine the association between pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and scores on behavioral scales according to both mother and teacher report.

methodsWe conducted a longitudinal study of 469 mother-child pairs. Information on pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) was collected from standardized maternal interviews conducted after delivery and assessment of childhood behavioral problems was measured at 5-12 years of age according to maternal-report using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and teacher-report using the Teacher Report Form (TRF). Using normal pre-pregnancy BMI (18.5-24.9 kg/m

resultsPre-pregnancy obesity was associated with a mean increase in child's total behavior problem t-scores according to both mother and teacher report, after adjustment for confounders and weighted for loss to follow-up (MD: 0.7, 95% CI: -2.2, 3.6 on CBCL; MD: 3.1, 95% CI: 0.5, 5.7 on TRF), indicating poorer behavioral outcomes. Comparing the magnitude of associations between mother and teacher-report, mean differences for pre-pregnancy obesity and most behavioral problem scales were larger for teacher-reported outcomes than mother-reported outcomes. Pre-pregnancy obesity was associated with increased risks of externalizing behaviors in the clinical range regardless of informant (CBCL RR: 1.6, 95% CI: 0.8, 3.2 and TRF RR: 1.7, 95% CI: 0.8, 3.5). Pre-pregnancy obesity was also associated with increased risks of internalizing behaviors according to teacher-report (TRF RR: 2.6, 95% CI:1.5, 4.6).

conclusionsPre-pregnancy obesity, compared to pre-pregnancy normal weight, is associated with generally higher scores on both mother and teacher reported childhood behavioral assessments, indicating an increased likelihood of behavioral problems.

Indexed as

Problem BehaviorBody Mass IndexFemaleHumansLongitudinal StudiesMothersObesityPregnancyBehaviorChild Behavior Checklist (CBCL)NeurodevelopmentPre-pregnancy BMI

Identifiers

PMID34780987
PMCPMC8819681
OpenAlexW3211345385

What OpenQuestion holds

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Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.