Early-life maternal attachment and risky health behaviours in adolescence: findings from the United Kingdom Millennium Cohort Study

Table 1| Estimated risky behaviour prevalence at 17 years by mothers’ MA at 9 months

Risky behaviour	Maternal attachment
	Higher		Lower		Total
	^b n	^c %	n	%	n	%
^a MRBs at 17	4611	68.1	597	72.4	5208	68.6
Regular smoking	1371	21.8	186	23.6	1557	22.0
Regular vaping	784	11.7	110	12.7	894	11.8
Alcohol consumption and binge drinking
Yes – but never binged	1881	28.5	234	26.6	2115	28.4
Yes – and have binged before	3754	58.5	467	58.6	4221	58.4
Illegal drugs	2004	31.1	302	37.6	2306	31.9
Gambling	691	14.0	85	11.7	777	13.7
Criminal engagement	937	18.0	136	18.8	1073	18.1
Antisocial behaviour	2129	31.0	283	35.7	2412	31.6
Unsafe sex	2589	40.0	328	42.1	2917	40.3

Footnote: MA = maternal attachment. ^a MRBs = Multiple Risky Behaviours, ^b n = number of observations, ^c % column percentage. MRBs in cohort members at 17 years include smoking, vaping, alcohol consumption/binging, illegal drugs, gambling, criminal engagement, antisocial behaviour and unsafe sex. Total number of complete case sample participants (n) = 7796

ISSN: 1471-2458