| The present study was conducted on the Mohawk Nation Reservation at Akwesasne located along the St. Lawrence River. The St. Lawrence River and surrounding waterways have been contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which have subsequently entered the food chain in this region. This study examined a subset of the data derived from the Mohawk Adolescent Well-Being Study (MAWBS), which was designed to explore psychosocial and various health related outcomes of adolescents whose mothers were likely to have consumed PCB contaminated fish and wild game from surrounding area of the reservation before and during their pregnancy. Specifically, the present study was designed to examine the relationship between the level of PCBs in the adolescents' blood serum and ratings of their attention. Instruments utilized to measure attention in adolescents included the Inattentive-passive subscale of the Conners' Rating Scales: Teacher Version and the Inattentiveness subscale of the Attention Deficit Disorder Evaluation Scale (ADDES): Home and School Version. Overall, findings from this study suggested that there is no relationship between adolescent blood PCB levels and parent and teacher ratings of inattention. The results did not support the three research hypotheses, which anticipated negative relationships between the PCB exposure and attention. |
