Smoking and Stress. The Results of the ELSPAC Study

Overview

In the framework of the ELSPAC study (European Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childho-od) which, in the Czech Republic, comprises women from the Znojmo region and from Brno,exposure to chronic stress during childhood and at present was recorded in 4990 pregnant wo-men. When compared with women from a great industrial city, the prevalence of impaired familyrelations was significantly lower in women from a rural district. In the same locality, the rate ofwomen with only basic or lower education was significantly higher. The prevalence of womenwith a history of smoking was similar in both localities (over 40 %) and it was in a negativecorrelation with the level of education. Smokers from both localities had a significantly higheroccurence of all signs characterizing a possible source of stress, among others also a higher pre-valence of induced abortions of unwanted pregnancies (in average 48.7% versus 28.2% in nonsmokers, p < 0.0001). The results confirmed the significant role of stress in the etiology of smo-king.

Key words:
pregnancy, stress, smoking.