Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jan 16, 2026

Moderate Prenatal Alcohol Exposure and Quantification of Social Behavior in Adult Rats
11:01

Moderate Prenatal Alcohol Exposure and Quantification of Social Behavior in Adult Rats

Published on: December 14, 2014

10.2K

The Relationship Between Prenatal Alcohol Exposure and Infant/Child-Caregiver Attachment: A Scoping Review

David J Gilbert1, Alan D Price1, Penny A Cook1

  • 1School of Health and Society, University of Salford, Manchester M5 4WT, UK.

Children (Basel, Switzerland)
|September 27, 2025
PubMed

Insights

Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) may impact infant attachment, potentially through infant irritability and caregiver interactions. However, research is limited, with mixed findings on the PAE-attachment link. More studies are needed to clarify this relationship.

Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Neuroscience
  • Developmental Pediatrics

Background:

  • Secure infant/child-caregiver attachment is vital for social-emotional development and long-term outcomes.
  • Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) presents complex challenges for children, often compounded by early life adversity.
  • Existing evidence suggests a potential increased risk of insecure attachment in children with PAE, but findings are inconsistent.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To systematically review and synthesize the existing literature on the relationship between prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) and infant/child attachment.
  • To identify gaps in the current research and highlight areas for future investigation.

Main Methods:

  • A systematic literature search was conducted across seven academic databases.
  • The review followed PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines.
  • Eleven studies (published 1987-2021) met the inclusion criteria, with quality assessments performed.

Main Results:

  • Five of the eleven included studies found a significant relationship between PAE and insecure or disorganized attachment.
  • Two of these studies indicated that infant irritability and caregiver-infant interaction mediated the PAE-attachment link.
  • The remaining six studies found no significant association between PAE and attachment.

Conclusions:

  • There is a notable lack of published research specifically examining the link between PAE and attachment.
  • Preliminary evidence suggests potential mediating factors like infant irritability and caregiver-infant interaction, but findings are not definitive.
  • Further research is crucial, particularly studies incorporating the impact of early life adversity and recent neurodevelopmental insights.

Keywords:
attachment securityattachment stylesfetal alcohol spectrum disorderprenatal alcohol exposurescoping review

More Related Videos

Construction of Vapor Chambers Used to Expose Mice to Alcohol During the Equivalent of all Three Trimesters of Human Development15:27

Construction of Vapor Chambers Used to Expose Mice to Alcohol During the Equivalent of all Three Trimesters of Human Development

Published on: July 13, 2014

15.1K
The Use of Trace Eyeblink Classical Conditioning to Assess Hippocampal Dysfunction in a Rat Model of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders19:57

The Use of Trace Eyeblink Classical Conditioning to Assess Hippocampal Dysfunction in a Rat Model of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders

Published on: August 5, 2017

8.8K

Related Concept Videos

Attachment01:20

Attachment

Attachment is vital for infant development, as warm social interactions support growth and well-being. In a classic 1958 study by Harry Harlow, the significance of warmth and comfort in forming attachments was examined. Harlow separated newborn monkeys from their mothers and provided two artificial "mothers": one made of cold wire and the other covered in soft cloth. Despite the wire mother offering food, the infant monkeys preferred the comfort of the cloth mother, demonstrating that...
500
Theory of Romantic Attachment in Adulthood03:34

Theory of Romantic Attachment in Adulthood

Attachment is a long-standing connection or bond with others. While Attachment Theory was conceived in developmental psychology to describe infant-caregiver bonding, it's been extended into adulthood to include romantic relationships. 
48.6K
Relationship with Parents: Attachment01:28

Relationship with Parents: Attachment

Parent-child interactions lay the foundation for how we understand relationships throughout life. These interactions are not uniform across families; instead, they are shaped by a range of environmental, emotional, and behavioral factors unique to each caregiver-child dynamic. Social psychologists study these early relationships to understand how patterns formed in infancy influence social functioning and interpersonal behavior in adulthood.Attachment Theory and Early Relational ModelsJohn...
224
Attachment Styles01:24

Attachment Styles

Jeffrey Simpson's attachment theory suggests that early caregiver relationships shape lasting patterns of behavior and emotional regulation, known as attachment styles. These patterns are organized along two key dimensions: self-esteem and interpersonal trust. The intersection of these dimensions produces four primary attachment styles that typically persist throughout life and significantly influence how individuals form and maintain relationships.Secure Attachment StyleIndividuals with a...
381
Hazan and Shaver's Attachment Styles01:28

Hazan and Shaver's Attachment Styles

Attachment theory, developed initially to explain infant–caregiver bonds, has been extended to illuminate patterns of intimacy in adult romantic relationships. Psychologists Cindy Hazan and Phillip Shaver proposed that the attachment styles observed in infancy form a framework for how individuals approach emotional closeness and conflict in adulthood. These attachment styles—secure, avoidant, and anxious—are linked to enduring patterns of behavior and emotional regulation in...
427
Socioemotional Development during Infancy01:30

Socioemotional Development during Infancy

Socio-emotional development in infancy is primarily shaped by early emotional responses and social connections, with temperament playing a central role. Temperament refers to the consistent patterns in an individual's emotional and behavioral responses, observable even in infancy. By examining temperament, researchers can better understand an infant's unique ways of interacting with the world, influencing subsequent personality and socio-emotional growth.
Primary Temperament Types
433