Children whose mothers smoked or even used nicotine patches during their pregnancies have recently been found to be more likely to be diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD.

According to a July 22 Reuters article, the authors of the study, from Denmark’s Aarhus University, made a point to note that this doesn’t mean that nicotine is a direct cause of ADHD.

This is because women dependent on nicotine have a higher likelihood of having ADHD themselves, senior author Dr. Carsten Obel told Reuters.

“Women dependent on nicotine have a higher likelihood of having ADHD themselves, which throws the entire theory out the window for me,” says Coach Juli of CoachJuli.com. “There is nothing brain chemistry-wise indicating nicotine has any correlation to having ADHD. However, smoking or addictive/impulsive behaviors often tend to be part of the make up of someone’s behavior who has ADHD.”

In the study, Reuters reports, researchers looked at data on more than 80,000 Danish children who were born between 1996 and 2002.

They found that children who had two smoking parents were 83% more likely to develop ADHD, a disorder that causes people to be disorganized and have trouble focusing. In addition, children who have a mother who smokes are more likely to have ADHD than those whose fathers smoke, according to the Reuters article.