Association of Exposure to Diethylstilbestrol During Pregnancy With Multigenerational Neurodevelopmental Deficits
In data from 47,540 Nurses’ Health Study II participants, reported ADHD diagnoses affected 7.7% of grandchildren of women who used DES during the relevant pregnancy, versus 5.2% without that exposure. The adjusted odds ratio was 1.36 (95% CI 1.10–1.67).
Why it matters to adoptees: Relevant to questions about neurodevelopment in the children of adoptees who were themselves exposed before birth. It does not mean ADHD identifies DES exposure.
Limitations: Observational association based on reported exposure and physician diagnoses; cannot establish causation for an individual or a heritable mechanism. Not an adoptee cohort. Shares the Nurses’ Health Study II programme with the birth-outcomes study. Does not test DES given solely after an earlier birth.
- Research type
- Observational cohort study
- Source reviewed
- Abstract
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Age group
- Adults / Offspring across generations
Study context and review
Age group as recorded: Adults; offspring across generations
Adoption context: Medical evidence relevant to adoptees; not an adoptee sample
Programme: Nurses' Health Study II — DES multigenerational analyses
Institutional context: Other
University and public-health research; not an adoption service evaluation. Funding and commissioning are distinct; unreviewed fields are not evidence of independence.
Scoped bibliographic and source review. Bibliographic relationships are not a bias or safety rating.
Topics: ADHD, adoptee-relevant medical evidence, DES, diethylstilbestrol, medical history, multigenerational health, neurodivergence
Review scope: Abstract and selected publisher full-text methods/results; not a comprehensive full-text review.
Country as recorded: United States
- Funding
- Not yet checked
- Commissioner
- Not yet checked
- Funder role
- Not yet checked
- Declared conflicts
- No conflicts reported in the PubMed declaration.
- Recruitment
- Not yet checked for this entry
- Adoptee involvement
- Not established in material reviewed
Entry: study_4cbc9b2a0c34ff92