Large South Korean Study Finds No Link Between Prenatal Benzodiazepine or Z-Hypnotic Exposure and Childhood Psychiatric Disorders After Controlling for Familial Factors

Sat, 02 May 2026 11:14:00 +0200

A comprehensive population-based cohort study from South Korea, analyzing data from nearly 3.8 million children born between 2010 and 2022, investigated whether prenatal exposure to benzodiazepines or Z-hypnotics increases the risk of psychiatric or neurodevelopmental disorders. Initial findings suggested a higher risk among exposed offspring compared to unexposed children over a median follow-up of about 6.85 years. However, this association vanished in a sibling-controlled analysis that better accounts for shared genetic and environmental factors (adjusted HR 0.99, 95% CI 0.94-1.04). The study examined 12 specific disorders using ICD-10 codes, including various psychiatric conditions like mood, anxiety, and substance use disorders, as well as neurodevelopmental issues such as autism, ADHD, and intellectual disability. No increased risks were observed for any of the individual disorders after adjustments. Notably, the sibling analysis even showed reduced risks for schizophrenia spectr