Does paternal alcohol consumption affect the severity of traits of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders?

Animal models indicate that paternal alcohol consumption might affect offspring traits, but few human studies are available.
Data from population-based studies of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) among first-year students provided case-control data to examine traits of fathers of children with: FASD, alcohol exposure, and unexposed control.
The data showed that most males in this population drank, but more fathers of children with FASD drank during pregnancy ( ¯x= 73.2%) than fathers of controls ( ¯x = 63.4%). Among drinkers, fathers of children with FASD: (a) consumed more drinks per occasion than controls ( ¯x = 11.5 vs. 9.7 for maternally exposed controls and 8.1 for maternally unexposed controls), (b) drank more frequently and binged, and (c) were reported to have had a drinking problem ( ¯x = 27.8% vs. ¯x= 18.8%). Partial correlations, controlling for maternal average drinks per drinking day (DDD) by trimester and maternal tobacco use, indicated a significant, negative association between paternal heavy/binge drinking (≥5) and child outcomes resulting in a significant reduction in child height, head circumference, and verbal IQ.
Categorical analysis of combined maternal and paternal drinking levels showed a significant average reduction in child height, head circumference, and verbal IQ percentile, and a significant increase in total dysmorphology score that was not observed without maternal drinking. The analysis of combined paternal and maternal drinking patterns also revealed that paternal drinking was not independently linked to child total dysmorphology scores or neurocognitive outcomes. Models considering maternal and paternal drinking were significant, but the primary and significant effects on total dysmorphology and neurocognitive outcomes were due to maternal alcohol consumption. Similarly, paternal alcohol consumption was not independently associated with an FASD diagnosis when accounting for prenatal maternal alcohol and tobacco use.
Paternal alcohol consumption was linked to an independent, negative impact on child height, head circumference, and verbal IQ. The study found that maternal drinking, in combination with heavy male drinking, was associated with more severe FASD outcomes.
Source: May, P.A., Hasken, J.M., Blankenship, J., Marais, A.-S., Gossage, J.P., Kalberg, W.O. et al. (2025) Does paternal alcohol consumption affect the severity of traits of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders? Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research, 49, 1716–1729.