The association of gestational phthalate exposure with social skills and problem behaviors in adolescents.
Publication/Presentation Date
3-27-2026
Abstract
Phthalates are ubiquitous endocrine disrupting chemicals previously linked with behavioral problems in children. We investigated associations of gestational phthalate exposure with problem behaviors and social skills in adolescents using the Health Outcomes and Measures of the Environment (HOME) Study. Parent offspring pairs (n = 216) were recruited between 2003 and 2006 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Maternal urine samples collected at 16- and 26-weeks' gestation were analyzed for nine phthalate metabolites. At the 12-year follow-up, adolescents and caregivers completed the Social Skills Improvement System (SSiS), which measures social skills (SSiS-SS) and problem behaviors (SSiS-PB). Multivariable linear regressions were performed for each phthalate metabolite controlling for potential confounders including maternal age, child race and ethnicity, maternal depression, marital status, income, child sex, cotinine, polybrominated diphenyl ether 47, and lead. Regressions were performed for the overall sample and stratified by sex. We evaluated mixture effects using quantile g-computation models. No individual phthalates were significantly associated with either the caregiver or adolescent reported SSiS-SS score. Mono-isobutyl phthalate (MiBP) was significantly associated with increased adolescent reported SSiS-PB score (β: 5.94, 95% CI: 0.75, 11.12, p = 0.03). In our sex-stratified analysis we found evidence for a detrimental association with phthalates and both SSiS-SS and SSiS-PB in male adolescents only. This was consistent in the linear and quantile g-computation models. We found evidence for sex specific associations between gestational phthalate exposures and social skills and problem behaviors in adolescents. This extends previous research on phthalates and child behavior into adolescence and suggests sex specific effects of phthalates.
Volume
1028
First Page
181736
Last Page
181736
ISSN
1879-1026
Published In/Presented At
Fitts, W., Puvvula, J., Braun, J. M., Lanphear, B. P., Calafat, A. M., Xu, Y., Cecil, K. M., Yolton, K., & Chen, A. (2026). The association of gestational phthalate exposure with social skills and problem behaviors in adolescents. The Science of the total environment, 1028, 181736. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2026.181736
Disciplines
Medicine and Health Sciences | Pediatrics
PubMedID
41905091
Department(s)
Department of Pediatrics
Document Type
Article