Multilevel Analysis of the Influence of Maternal Smoking and Alcohol Consumption on the Facial Shape of English Adolescents †

This cross-sectional study aims to assess the influence of maternal smoking and alcohol consumption during pregnancy on the facial shape of non-syndromic English adolescents and demonstrate the potential benefits of using multilevel principal component analysis (mPCA). A cohort of 3755 non-syndromic 15-year-olds from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), England, were included. Maternal smoking and alcohol consumption during the 1st and 2nd trimesters of pregnancy were determined via questionnaire at 18 weeks gestation. 21 facial landmarks, used as a proxy for the main facial features, were manually plotted onto 3D facial scans of the participants. The effect of maternal smoking and maternal alcohol consumption (average 1–2 glasses per week) was minimal, with 0.66% and 0.48% of the variation in the 21 landmarks of non-syndromic offspring explained, respectively. This study provides a further example of mPCA being used effectively as a descriptive analysis in facial shape research. This is the first example of mPCA being extended to four levels to assess the influence of environmental factors. Further work on the influence of high/low levels of smoking and alcohol and providing inferential evidence is required.