A Review of the Effects of Prenatal Cocaine Exposure Among School-Aged Children

Abstract

CONTEXT Studies through 6 years have shown no long-term direct effects of prenatal cocaine exposure (PCE) on children’s physical growth, developmental test scores, or language outcomes. Little is known about the effects of PCE among school-aged children aged 6 years and older. OBJECTIVE We reviewed articles from studies that examined the effects of PCE on growth, cognitive ability, academic functioning, and brain structure and function among school-aged children. METHODS Articles were obtained by searching PubMed, Medline, TOXNET, and PsycInfo databases from January 1980 to December 2008 with the terms “prenatal cocaine exposure,” “cocaine,” “drug exposure,” “substance exposure,” “maternal drug use,” “polysubstance,” “children,” “adolescent,” “in utero,” “pregnancy,” “development,” and “behavior.” Criteria for inclusion were (1) empirical research on children aged 6 years and older prenatally exposed to cocaine, (2) peer-reviewed English-language journal, (3) comparison group, (4) longitudinal follow-up or historical prospective design, (5) masked assessment, (6) exclusion of subjects with serious medical disabilities, and (7) studies that reported nonredundant findings for samples used in multiple investigations. Thirty-two unique studies met the criteria. Each article was independently abstracted by 2 authors to obtain sample composition, methods of PCE assessment, study design, comparison groups, dependent variables, covariates, and results. RESULTS Associations between PCE and growth, cognitive ability, academic achievement, and language functioning were small and attenuated by environmental variables. PCE had significant negative associations with sustained attention and behavioral self-regulation, even with covariate control. Although emerging evidence suggests PCE-related alterations in brain structure and function, interpretation is limited by methodologic inconsistencies. CONCLUSIONS Consistent with findings among preschool-aged children, environmental variables play a key role in moderating and explaining the effects of PCE on school-aged children’s functioning. After controlling for these effects, PCE-related impairments are reliably reported in sustained attention and behavioral self-regulation among school-aged children. Pediatrics 2010;125:554–565

A Review of Neurobehavioral Challenges in Children Exposed Prenatally to Intrauterine Opioid

“…Single of the greater trainings of prenatal cocaine contact is a Parental Lifestyle Training, which comprises more than 1100 children in contact with cocaine (27), of whom several hundreds have been surveyed up to fifteen years of age (28). These trainings have indicated that prenatal cocaine experience is associated with difficulties in continued responsiveness and behavioral habits even after adjustment for covariates (29).…”

Cocaína prenatal y consumo de cocaína de ratones adultos jóvenes

“…El consumo de cocaína afecta al 0.4% de la población mundial (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime -UNODC-, 2015) y dado que es una de las sustancias favoritas de los jóvenes, existe una gran probabilidad de embarazos y de consumo durante el periodo de gestación y por tanto de niños expuestos a cocaína in útero (Ackerman, Riggins, & Black, 2010;Bennett, Bendersky, & Lewis, 2007;Cunha-Oliveira, Rego, & Oliveira, 2014).…”

“…Entre las alteraciones cognitivo-emocionales más nefastas de la EPC, se encuentra el incremento del riesgo para el abuso de sustancias (Ackerman et al, 2010;Bennett, Bendersky & Lewis, 2007;Chaplin et al, 2014;Kippin, Campbell, Ploense, Knight, & Bagley, 2015;Lester et al, 2012;Minnes et al, 2014;Rocha, Mead & Kosofsky, 2002;Sinha, 2008). Existen numerosos estudios que muestran que los descendientes de padres adictos tienen alta probabilidad de llegar a ser adictos en la adolescencia o juventud temprana, tanto en animales como en humanos (Estelles et al, 2006;Glantz & Chambers, 2006;Malanga et al, 2007;Minnes et al, 2014;Richardson et al, 2013;Rocha et al, 2002).…”

Protective Factors Can Mitigate Behavior Problems After Prenatal Cocaine and Other Drug Exposures

“…[1][2][3][4][5] Studies also show that PCE effects are related to levels of exposure. 5,6 In addition, the detrimental effects of high PCE on externalizing behavior problems remains through age 13 years after controlling for other factors.…”