Smoking May Impair Teens' Attention

Teen Smokers In Study Scored Worse Than Nonsmokers On Attention Test

(WebMD)  Teens may have more trouble paying attention if they smoke, especially if their mothers smoked cigarettes during pregnancy.

That news comes from researchers including Leslie Jacobsen, M.D., of the departments of psychiatry and pediatrics at Yale University's medical school.

Exposure to tobacco smoke before birth or during the teen years may interfere with the development of attention skills, Jacobsen and colleagues report. That's one more reason to prevent smoking, especially among women of childbearing age, and to help people quit smoking, the researchers note.

Their study looked at 181 teens. The researchers asked the teens' moms if they had smoked during pregnancy.

The researchers then split the teens into four groups:

67 teen smokers whose mothers had smoked during pregnancy

44 teen smokers whose mothers had not smoked during pregnancy

25 nonsmoking teens whose mothers had smoked during pregnancy

45 nonsmoking teens whose mothers had not smoked during pregnancy.

The teens took a series of computerized attention tests in which they saw a word on a computer screen or heard a recorded word played out loud. They were told to focus on the word shown on the computer screen (visual attention test) or the word played out loud (auditory attention test).

The tests got progressively harder as the researchers added visual or auditory distractions.

For instance, they played a recording of a word during a visual attention test. The teens had to ignore such distractions and focus on the test.

Here are the results of the attention tests:

Best scores: Nonsmoking teens whose mothers had not smoked during
pregnancy

Second-best scores: Teen smokers whose mothers had not smoked during
pregnancy

Worst scores: Teen smokers whose mothers had smoked during pregnancy.

Smoking teenaged girls whose mothers had smoked during pregnancy scored worse than other girls on both the visual and auditory tests. Smoking teenaged boys whose mothers had smoked during pregnancy scored worse than other boys on the auditory attention test, but not the visual one.

The findings held when the researchers considered that teen smokers were more likely to report depression and drug use.

The study appears in the advance online edition of Neuropsychopharmacology.



By Miranda Hitti
Reviewed by Louise Chang, M.D.
© 2007 WebMD, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Add a Comment

by ndg1979 March 22, 2007 5:19 AM PDT

The Tobacco Industry and half of America is going to blacklist me, but this is a good enough reason to ban cigarettes altogether. Honestly - WHAT PURPOSE DO THEY SERVE? NONE!!!!!!!!!!

Ask a smoker this question and see what kind of response you get, if they are smart enough to understand your question - WHICH ONE OF THE OVER 800 POISONOUS CHEMICALS IN YOUR CIGARETTE IS YOUR FAVORITE? AND NICOTINE IS NOT AN ALLOWABLE ANSWER.

See if they are excited when they learn that their child will be spending a lot of time riding "the short bus" to school thanks to their ignorant smoking habit. It is no wonder Bush is in office, that U.S. jobs are going overseas, that wages are down and that people are crying fowl over items they do not understand - YEARS OF SMOKING HAVE MADE AMERICA DUMB!!!!

It no longer surprises me that China is becoming the global leader. The U.S. as a 3rd World Country thanks to cigarettes - tonight on Action News at 6!

Reply to this comment

by proudmom27 March 22, 2007 7:47 AM PDT

Ok I agree that they serve no purpose. But dont go saying that children will be "riding the short bus" thats not fair. My mother smoked with all three of her children. My older sister does not smoke, she has never tried it. She is 24 years old and graduated 2 different collages with a 4.0 average with honors. So where does your: "Years of smoking have made America dumb!" come in?
~Think before you speak

Reply to this comment

by extremophil March 22, 2007 8:00 AM PDT

Smoking impairs teenagers attention span? How the heck can they tell??

Reply to this comment

by anopinion1 March 22, 2007 8:58 AM PDT

OOOOO
A WHOLE 181 PERSON FIELD THEY STUDIED FROM...

UNTIL THEIR ARE LIKE 10 TESTS OF RANDOM GROUPS OF AROUND 1 THOUSAND PEOPLE.

DONT PRETEND THIS IS RELIABLE

Reply to this comment

by anopinion1 March 22, 2007 10:29 AM PDT

how big was the gap in the scores ???
was it significant??? not significant to mention in the article???

Reply to this comment

by rf35 March 22, 2007 12:15 PM PDT

Interesting opinion, ndg1979. I haven't looked it up (yet) but I'd bet money that China and India have higher smoking rates than the US. S. Korea has a greater percentage of smokers than America (I've been there, I know). Japan is roughly equal, though more older people smoke. I'm not saying smoking makes anyone smarter or that it's a good thing, but saying it makes people dumb IS dumb.

Reply to this comment

by anopinion1 March 22, 2007 3:48 PM PDT

Wasnt their an article here awhile back stating that many girls chain smoke during the pregnancy now a days because they have a premature baby.. all so they wont get to fat???

good thing we educated them on that fact... They would never have figured that out on their own.

Reply to this comment

by ndg1979 March 23, 2007 1:32 AM PDT

So I got your attention - good. How many of you know exactly what is in cigarettes? At last count, according to documents sent to the federal gov. by the cig makers - up to 599 additives in cigarettes. These include the common nicotine and rat poison, but also include POLONIUM-210 (remember that one?), ARSENIC (enough said), Ethyl Alcohol, and MY PERSONAL FAVORITE - Hydrogen CYANIDE!! Cyanide people!! Things that we used to kill war time enemies are in cigarettes.

Now don't get me started on any of the nearly 5,000 carcinogens that are created by the BURNING process. There are hundreds that are lethal - TO NON-SMOKERS TOO!!

If you don't believe me, or are just unwilling to admit to yourself that their is cyanide in your cigs (and "lights" are NO BETTER) - just Google "Cigarette Ingredients" and see for yourself.

Smoking in and of itself is idiotic at best since so why are you still doing it?! Hmmmmmmmmmmm. Maybe it may not be such a bad thing after all - it may save some social security money for me.

Remember - AMERICAN'S SET STANDARDS FOR THE WORLD!! By being the healthiest, most productive country in the world, we can stay number one in the world - and lower our health costs too. How much money do you want to save on your benefits? Time to scare the medical insurance companies!! Dumb? Not me.

By the way, congrats on the 2 time college grad. It is always nice to hear about exceptions to the rule. Hope she is President someday.

Reply to this comment

by abraxadox March 23, 2007 9:36 AM PDT

Why is it that we are in the middle of an obesity epidemic and people are still going after smokers? I don't want to say smoking is a great thing to do, but there isn't a smoking epidemic, at least not that I know of.

I believe that obesity is truly going to devastate Medicare. And you know what else? Kids today have lower life expectancies that people of my generation - and it's not because they're smoking. Its because they are eating hamburgers and fries and chips and sugary drinks with a reckless abandon that you just don't see in a pack a day.

I smoke, and have since I was 15. I haven't had problems paying attention. I am not obese, I do not do drugs, I am not an alcoholic or a degenerate. I am a smoker. Leave us alone!

Reply to this comment

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[ndg1979]

The Tobacco Industry and half of America is going to blacklist me, but this is a good enough reason to ban cigarettes altogether. Honestly - WHAT PURPOSE DO THEY SERVE? NONE!!!!!!!!!!

Ask a smoker this question and see what kind of response you get, if they are smart enough to understand your question - WHICH ONE OF THE OVER 800 POISONOUS CHEMICALS IN YOUR CIGARETTE IS YOUR FAVORITE? AND NICOTINE IS NOT AN ALLOWABLE ANSWER.

See if they are excited when they learn that their child will be spending a lot of time riding "the short bus" to school thanks to their ignorant smoking habit. It is no wonder Bush is in office, that U.S. jobs are going overseas, that wages are down and that people are crying fowl over items they do not understand - YEARS OF SMOKING HAVE MADE AMERICA DUMB!!!!

It no longer surprises me that China is becoming the global leader. The U.S. as a 3rd World Country thanks to cigarettes - tonight on Action News at 6!

[proudmom27]

Ok I agree that they serve no purpose. But dont go saying that children will be "riding the short bus" thats not fair. My mother smoked with all three of her children. My older sister does not smoke, she has never tried it. She is 24 years old and graduated 2 different collages with a 4.0 average with honors. So where does your: "Years of smoking have made America dumb!" come in?
~Think before you speak

[extremophil]

Smoking impairs teenagers attention span? How the heck can they tell??

[anopinion1]

OOOOO
A WHOLE 181 PERSON FIELD THEY STUDIED FROM...

UNTIL THEIR ARE LIKE 10 TESTS OF RANDOM GROUPS OF AROUND 1 THOUSAND PEOPLE.

DONT PRETEND THIS IS RELIABLE

[anopinion1]

how big was the gap in the scores ???
was it significant??? not significant to mention in the article???

[rf35]

Interesting opinion, ndg1979. I haven't looked it up (yet) but I'd bet money that China and India have higher smoking rates than the US. S. Korea has a greater percentage of smokers than America (I've been there, I know). Japan is roughly equal, though more older people smoke. I'm not saying smoking makes anyone smarter or that it's a good thing, but saying it makes people dumb IS dumb.

[anopinion1]

Wasnt their an article here awhile back stating that many girls chain smoke during the pregnancy now a days because they have a premature baby.. all so they wont get to fat???

good thing we educated them on that fact... They would never have figured that out on their own.

[ndg1979]

So I got your attention - good. How many of you know exactly what is in cigarettes? At last count, according to documents sent to the federal gov. by the cig makers - up to 599 additives in cigarettes. These include the common nicotine and rat poison, but also include POLONIUM-210 (remember that one?), ARSENIC (enough said), Ethyl Alcohol, and MY PERSONAL FAVORITE - Hydrogen CYANIDE!! Cyanide people!! Things that we used to kill war time enemies are in cigarettes.

Now don't get me started on any of the nearly 5,000 carcinogens that are created by the BURNING process. There are hundreds that are lethal - TO NON-SMOKERS TOO!!

If you don't believe me, or are just unwilling to admit to yourself that their is cyanide in your cigs (and "lights" are NO BETTER) - just Google "Cigarette Ingredients" and see for yourself.

Smoking in and of itself is idiotic at best since so why are you still doing it?! Hmmmmmmmmmmm. Maybe it may not be such a bad thing after all - it may save some social security money for me.

Remember - AMERICAN'S SET STANDARDS FOR THE WORLD!! By being the healthiest, most productive country in the world, we can stay number one in the world - and lower our health costs too. How much money do you want to save on your benefits? Time to scare the medical insurance companies!! Dumb? Not me.

By the way, congrats on the 2 time college grad. It is always nice to hear about exceptions to the rule. Hope she is President someday.

[abraxadox]

Why is it that we are in the middle of an obesity epidemic and people are still going after smokers? I don't want to say smoking is a great thing to do, but there isn't a smoking epidemic, at least not that I know of.

I believe that obesity is truly going to devastate Medicare. And you know what else? Kids today have lower life expectancies that people of my generation - and it's not because they're smoking. Its because they are eating hamburgers and fries and chips and sugary drinks with a reckless abandon that you just don't see in a pack a day.

I smoke, and have since I was 15. I haven't had problems paying attention. I am not obese, I do not do drugs, I am not an alcoholic or a degenerate. I am a smoker. Leave us alone!