Exploring the impact of childhood adversity on maternal anxiety and smoking: the All Our Families community cohort study

Abstract

The primary focus of this thesis was to investigate the impact of maternal adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on two pregnancy outcomes: 1) anxiety symptoms and 2) smoking status. The second objective was to determine whether partner support moderated these associations. Secondary statistical analyses were performed using All Our Families (AOF) study data collected between 2008-2010 in Calgary, Alberta (N = 3,362). Thesis results were non-significant, illustrating that maternal ACEs had no effect on anxiety symptoms and smoking status in pregnancy among a moderate to high socioeconomic status sample. Given that neither of the focal associations under study show statistical significance, partner support as a moderator could not be investigated. It is likely that the moderate to high socioeconomic characteristics of the AOF sample were health protective and ameliorated the negative effects of maternal ACEs on anxiety symptoms and smoking in pregnancy.