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Published on: July 13, 2014
Effects of alcohol and other drugs on children
1Children and Family Futures, Irvine, California, USA.
Insights
Children exposed to alcohol and drugs in utero face physiological risks and caregiving deficits. Environmental factors significantly impact long-term outcomes, highlighting the pervasive effects of substance use on child development.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Health
- Developmental Psychology
- Public Health
Background:
- Children are impacted by parental alcohol and drug use via prenatal exposure, environmental factors, and personal substance use.
- Prenatal alcohol exposure can lead to Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS), with an estimated 0.33 cases per 1,000 live births globally.
- Millions of children are exposed to alcohol prenatally, and many live with parents who use illegal substances, indicating a significant public health concern.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the multifaceted pathways through which parental alcohol and drug use affects children.
- To highlight the risks associated with prenatal substance exposure and environmental influences.
- To underscore the societal costs associated with alcohol and tobacco use.
Main Methods:
- Literature review and synthesis of existing epidemiological data.
- Analysis of prevalence estimates for Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) and prenatal alcohol exposure.
- Examination of environmental and social factors contributing to negative outcomes in children of substance-using parents.
Main Results:
- Prenatal alcohol exposure poses physiological risks and can be compounded by caregiving deficits.
- An estimated 18.6% of babies are exposed to alcohol during gestation, and millions of children live with parental substance use.
- Adverse environmental factors like neglect and deprivation often exacerbate the effects of prenatal exposure, with limited consensus on long-term outcomes from in utero exposure alone.
Conclusions:
- There is no safe level of alcohol consumption during pregnancy.
- Parental substance use, particularly alcohol, is linked to crime, family violence, and significant societal costs.
- Comprehensive understanding and intervention strategies are needed to address the complex impacts of parental substance use on children.
Abstract:
Children are affected by alcohol and other drug use along three primary paths: in utero through the mother's use, environmentally through both family and community influences, and through their own use. Children who are prenatally exposed are put at risk both through physiological insults and through caregiving deficits in their immediate family. The number of cases of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) in the western world has been estimated at 0.33 cases per 1,000 live births; 200 babies are born with FAS per year in California. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) estimates that 7.62 million babies (18.6%) were exposed to alcohol during gestation. Current prevalence estimates show about 28.6 million children of alcoholics in the United States, while in California it is estimated that about 17.6% of children lived with a parent who used illegal substances during the past year. Although all the prenatal effects of alcohol are not known, it is clear that there is no safe amount of alcohol to be consumed during pregnancy. There is little consensus, however, on long-term effects from in utero exposure alone because of the influence of adverse environmental factors; prenatal exposure is usually not the final influence, but is reinforced by years of neglect, deprivation, negative behavioral models, and other adverse conditions. And although society places most emphasis upon the negative effects of illicit substances, use of alcohol is strongly associated with crime and family violence. The consequences of use of alcohol and tobacco are more costly to society in terms of health care, accidents, days of work lost, and other social costs.
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