TY - JOUR
T1 - Estimated effect of prenatal cocaine exposure on examiner-rated behavior at age 7 years
AU - Accornero, Veronica H.
AU - Anthony, James C.
AU - Morrow, Connie E.
AU - Xue, Lihua
AU - Mansoor, Elana
AU - Johnson, Arnise L.
AU - McCoy, Clyde B.
AU - Bandstra, Emmalee S.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) , National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA ; K01 DA 016720 , Principal Investigator [PI]: V.H. Accornero; RO1 DA 006556 , PI: E.S. Bandstra; K05 DA 015799 , PI: J.C. Anthony), NIH Office of Research on Women's Health and NIDA ( P50 DA 024584 , PI: E.S. Bandstra), the NIH Center for Research Resources, University of Miami General Clinical Research Center ( MO1-RR 16587 ), the Health Foundation of South Florida , and the Kenneth A. Lattman Foundation .
PY - 2011/5
Y1 - 2011/5
N2 - Prenatal cocaine exposure has been linked to increased child behavior difficulties in some studies but not others. Objective: The primary aim was to estimate the relationship between in utero cocaine exposure and child behavioral functioning at age 7. years with ratings made by blinded examiners during a structured testing session. A second aim was to examine whether caregiver drug use and psychological problems might mediate suspected relationships between prenatal cocaine exposure and aspects of examiner-rated behavior. Methods: 407 children (212 cocaine-exposed, 195 non-exposed) participating in the longitudinal Miami Prenatal Cocaine Study (MPCS) were rated with regard to their behavior during a neuropsychological assessment conducted at age 7. years. Raters were trained research psychometricians blinded to drug exposure status. Individual behavioral items were summarized and the cocaine-behavior relationship was estimated within the context of latent variable modeling, using Mplus software. Results: Two latent variables, Behavioral Regulation and Sociability, were derived via exploratory latent structure analysis with promax rotation. Prenatal cocaine exposure, statistically controlling for child sex, test age, and prenatal exposure to alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana, was associated with Behavioral Regulation (estimated slope ß = -0.25; 95% CI = -0.48, -0.02; p = 0.04) but not Sociability (estimated slope ß = -0.03; 95% CI = -0.26, 0.20; p = 0.79). Neither postnatal drug use by caregivers nor the severity of their psychological problems at age 5 follow-up predicted levels of child Behavioral Regulation or Sociability at age 7. years (p > 0.10). Conclusions: Examiner ratings of child behavior at age 7 revealed less optimal behavioral regulation for prenatally cocaine-exposed compared to non-exposed children, in contrast with what had been previously found from parent-report data. This evidence highlights the potential value of trained observers in assessing behavioral outcomes of children exposed in utero to drugs and other toxicants.
AB - Prenatal cocaine exposure has been linked to increased child behavior difficulties in some studies but not others. Objective: The primary aim was to estimate the relationship between in utero cocaine exposure and child behavioral functioning at age 7. years with ratings made by blinded examiners during a structured testing session. A second aim was to examine whether caregiver drug use and psychological problems might mediate suspected relationships between prenatal cocaine exposure and aspects of examiner-rated behavior. Methods: 407 children (212 cocaine-exposed, 195 non-exposed) participating in the longitudinal Miami Prenatal Cocaine Study (MPCS) were rated with regard to their behavior during a neuropsychological assessment conducted at age 7. years. Raters were trained research psychometricians blinded to drug exposure status. Individual behavioral items were summarized and the cocaine-behavior relationship was estimated within the context of latent variable modeling, using Mplus software. Results: Two latent variables, Behavioral Regulation and Sociability, were derived via exploratory latent structure analysis with promax rotation. Prenatal cocaine exposure, statistically controlling for child sex, test age, and prenatal exposure to alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana, was associated with Behavioral Regulation (estimated slope ß = -0.25; 95% CI = -0.48, -0.02; p = 0.04) but not Sociability (estimated slope ß = -0.03; 95% CI = -0.26, 0.20; p = 0.79). Neither postnatal drug use by caregivers nor the severity of their psychological problems at age 5 follow-up predicted levels of child Behavioral Regulation or Sociability at age 7. years (p > 0.10). Conclusions: Examiner ratings of child behavior at age 7 revealed less optimal behavioral regulation for prenatally cocaine-exposed compared to non-exposed children, in contrast with what had been previously found from parent-report data. This evidence highlights the potential value of trained observers in assessing behavioral outcomes of children exposed in utero to drugs and other toxicants.
KW - Behavior
KW - Behavioral regulation
KW - Caregiver drug use
KW - Caregiver psychological functioning
KW - Examiner ratings
KW - Prenatal cocaine exposure
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U2 - 10.1016/j.ntt.2011.02.014
DO - 10.1016/j.ntt.2011.02.014
M3 - Article
C2 - 21640292
AN - SCOPUS:79957894546
VL - 33
SP - 370
EP - 378
JO - Neurotoxicology and Teratology
JF - Neurotoxicology and Teratology
SN - 0892-0362
IS - 3
ER -