Continued effects of prenatal cocaine use: preschool development

The relationship between prenatal cocaine use and preschooler's physical and cognitive development and behavioral characteristics was examined, controlling for other influences on child development. On average, children were 38.5 months old, women were 29.4 years old, had 12.3 years of education, and 47% were African American. During the first trimester, 18% of the women were frequent cocaine users (> or = 1 line/day). First trimester cocaine exposure predicted decreased head circumference at 3 years and lower scores on the short-term memory subscale of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale (SBIS) [74]. There was no significant relationship between prenatal cocaine use and the other SBIS scales. First trimester cocaine use also predicted more total, internalizing, and externalizing behavior problems on the Child Behavior Checklist [3] and higher scores on the fussy/difficult scale of the Infant Characteristics Questionnaire [6]. Children who were exposed to cocaine throughout pregnancy had more behavior problems and were more fussy compared to children of women who never used cocaine prenatally. A repeated measures analysis showed that children of first trimester cocaine users became more fussy over time. These detrimental effects on growth and behavior are consistent with other reports in the literature and with the hypothesis that prenatal cocaine exposure affects development through changes in neurotransmitter systems.