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SUMMARY

Aim

This study examines the relationship between prenatal cocaine exposure and parent-reported child behavior problems at age 7 years.

Methods

Data are from 407 African-American children (210 cocaine-exposed, 197 non-cocaine-exposed) enrolled prospectively at birth in a longitudinal study on the neurodevelopmental consequences of in utero exposure to cocaine. Prenatal cocaine exposure was assessed at delivery through maternal self-report and bioassays (maternal and infant urine and infant meconium). The Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), a measure of childhood externalizing and internalizing behavior problems, was completed by the child’s current primary caregiver during an assessment visit scheduled when the child was seven years old.

Results

Structural equation and GLM/GEE models disclosed no association linking prenatal cocaine exposure status or level of cocaine exposure to child behavior (CBCL Externalizing and Internalizing scores or the eight CBCL sub-scale scores).

Conclusions

This evidence, based on standardized ratings by the current primary caregiver, fails to support hypothesized cocaine-associated behavioral problems in school-aged children with in utero cocaine exposure. A next step in this line of research is to secure standardized ratings from other informants (e.g., teachers, youth self-report).

Predictors of caregiver-reported behavior problems for 3-year-olds with prenatal cocaine exposure (PCE) and matched controls were examined using structural equation modeling. We tested whether PCE had a direct effect on child behavior problems in a model that included other prenatal drug exposure, child sex, caregiver depression, and the quality of the child’s home environment. The sample (N = 256) was drawn from a longitudinal, prospective study of children of (predominantly crack) cocaine-using women and controls matched on race, socioeconomic status, parity, and pregnancy risk. Child Behavior Problems was modeled as a latent variable composed of the 48-item Conners’ Parent Report Scale Conduct Problem and Impulsive-Hyperactive scales and the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory Intensity scale. Caregiver depression was the only significant predictor of Child Behavior Problems. Mean levels of caregiver self-reported depression and reported child behavior problems did not differ between groups. Mean depression scores were well above the recommended clinical cutoff while mean child behavior problems scores were within normal limits. The model explained 21% of the variance in caregiver-reported child behavior problems in our sample of rural African American, low SES youngsters. Non-maternal caregivers of cocaine-exposed children had significantly lower mean depression scores and mean child behavior problems ratings for 2 of 3 scales used in the study compared to biological mothers of children with PCE and controls. For all groups, much larger proportions of children were rated as having clinically significant behavior problems than would be expected based on the prevalence of behavior problems in the general population.

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. 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.

Background

We previously reported an association between prenatal cocaine exposure (PCE) and childhood behavior problems as observed by the parent or caretaker. However, these behavior problems may not manifest in a structured environment, such as a school setting.

Objective

We determined whether there is an association between PCE and school behavior problems and whether ratings of behavior problems from the teacher differ from those noted by the parent or caretaker.

Methods

The Maternal Lifestyle Study, a multicenter study, enrolled 1388 children with and without PCE at one month of age for longitudinal assessment. Teachers masked to prenatal drug exposure status completed the Teacher Report Form (TRF/6-18) when children were 7, 9, and 11 years old. We also administered the Child Behavior Checklist-parent report (CBCL) to the parent/caretaker at same ages and then at 13 years. We performed latent growth curve modeling to determine whether high PCE will predict externalizing, internalizing, total behavior, and attention problems at 7 years of age and whether changes in problems' scores over time differ between those exposed and non-exposed from both teacher and parent report. Besides levels of PCE as predictors, we controlled for the following covariates, namely: site, child characteristics (gender and other prenatal drug exposures), family level influences (maternal age, depression and psychological symptomatology, continuing drug use, exposure to domestic violence, home environment, and socioeconomic status), and community level factors (neighborhood and community violence).

Results

The mean behavior problem T scores from the teacher report were significantly higher than ratings by the parent or caretaker. Latent growth curve modeling revealed a significant relationship between intercepts of problem T scores from teacher and parent ratings; i.e., children that were rated poorly by teachers were also rated poorly by their parent/caretaker or vice versa. After controlling for covariates, we found high PCE to be a significant predictor of with higher externalizing behavior problem T scores from both parent and teacher report at 7 years (p=0.034 and p=0.021, respectively) in comparison to non-PCE children. These differences in scores from either teacher or caregiver were stable through subsequent years or did not change significantly over time. Boys had higher T scores than girls on internalizing and total problems by caretaker report; they also had significantly higher T scores for internalizing, total, and attention problems by teacher ratings; the difference was marginally significant for externalizing behavior (p=0.070). Caretaker postnatal use of tobacco, depression, and community violence were significant predictors of all behavior problems rated by parent/caretaker, while lower scores on the home environment predicted all behavior outcomes by the teacher report.

Conclusions

Children with high PCE are likely to manifest externalizing behavior problems; their behavior problem scores at 7 years from either report of teacher or parent remained higher than scores of non-exposed children on subsequent years. Screening and identification of behavior problems at earlier ages could make possible initiation of intervention, while considering the likely effects of other confounders.

This study examined the effects of prenatal cocaine exposure on infant hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity and reactivity at 7 months of infant age. Participants were 168 caregiver-infant dyads (87 cocaine exposed, 81 not cocaine exposed; 47% boys). Maternal behavior, caregiving instability, and infant growth and behavior were assessed, and children's saliva was sampled before, during, and after standardized procedures designed to elicit emotional arousal. Results revealed cocaine-exposed infants had a high amplitude trajectory of cortisol reactivity compared to non-cocaine-exposed infants. Infant gender and caregiving instability moderated this association. The findings support a dual hazard vulnerability model and have implications for evolutionary-developmental theories of individual differences in biological sensitivity to context.

Background

Children prenatally exposed to cocaine may be at increased risk for behavioral problems due to disruptions of monaminergically regulated arousal systems and/or environmental conditions.

Objective

To assess behavioral outcomes of cocaine (CE) and non-cocaine exposed (NCE) children, 4 through 10 years old, controlling for other prenatal drug exposures and environmental factors.

Methods

Low socioeconomic status (SES), primarily African-American children (n = 381 (193 (CE), 188 (NCE)) were recruited from birth. Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE) analyses were used to assess the predictive relationship of prenatal cocaine exposure to odds of caregiver reported clinically elevated behavioral problems at 4, 6, 9 and 10 years of age, controlling for confounders.

Results

Prenatal cocaine exposure was associated with increased rates of caregiver reported delinquency (OR=1.93, CI: 1.09-3.42, p<.02). A significant prenatal cocaine exposure by sex interaction was found for delinquency indicating that only females were affected (OR=3.57, CI: 1.67-7.60, p<.001). There was no effect of cocaine on increased odds of other CBCL subscales. Higher prenatal tobacco exposure was associated with increased odds of externalizing symptoms at 4, 9 and 10 years of age. For CE children, those in foster or adoptive care were rated as having more behavior problems than those in biologic mother or relative care. Greater caregiver psychological distress was associated with increased behavioral problems. There were no independent effects of elevated blood lead level on increased behavior problems after control for prenatal drug exposure and other environmental conditions.

Conclusion

Prenatal cocaine and tobacco exposure were associated with greater externalizing behavior after control for multiple prenatal drug exposures, other environmental and caregiving factors and lead exposure from 4 through 10 years of age. Greater caregiver psychological distress negatively affected caregiver ratings of all CBCL domains. Since cocaine and tobacco use during pregnancy and maternal psychological distress have the potential to be altered through prenatal educational, drug treatment and and mental health interventions, they warrant attention in efforts to reduce rates of problem behaviors in children.

The primary goal of this study was to examine sleep problems in a sample of cocaine-exposed 7-month-old infants and to determine if maternal psychopathology mediated any existing association between substance exposure and sleep behaviors. We also examined the differences in sleep behaviors of cocaine-exposed infants in parental custody and cocaine-exposed infants in nonparental custody. Participants were 65 cocaine-exposed and 53 nonexposed infants and their primary caregivers who were recruited at delivery and assessed at 7 months of infant age. As expected, women who used cocaine during pregnancy had more psychiatric symptoms than nonusers. Prenatal exposure to heavier amounts of cocaine was significantly related to more severe sleep difficulties, and maternal anxiety mediated this association. Approximately 28% of cocaine mothers lost custody of their infants by 7 months of age. Nonmaternal caregivers had significantly fewer symptoms of psychopathology than the cocaine-using women who retained custody of their children. Infants who were in nonparental care at 7 months of age also had less severe sleep problems than did infants who remained in parental care.

The quality of children’s social interactions and their attachment security with a primary caregiver are two widely studied indices of socioemotional functioning in early childhood. Although both Bowlby and Ainsworth suggested that the parent-child interactions underlying the development of attachment security could be distinguished from other aspects of parent-child interaction (e.g., play), relatively little empirical research has examined this proposition. The aim of the current study was to explore this issue by examining concurrent relations between toddler’s attachment security in the Strange Situation Procedure and quality of mother-child social interaction in a high-risk sample of toddlers characterized by prenatal cocaine exposure and low levels of maternal education. Analyses of variance suggested limited relations between attachment security and quality of social interaction. Further research examining the interrelations among various components of the parent-child relationship is needed.

OBJECTIVE

To test a developmental model of neurobehavioral dysregulation relating prenatal substance exposure to behavior problems at age 7.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

The sample included 360 cocaine-exposed and 480 unexposed children from lower to lower middle class families of which 78% were African American. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test models whereby prenatal exposure to cocaine and other substances would result in neurobehavioral dysregulation in infancy, which would predict externalizing and internalizing behavior problems in early childhood. SEM models were developed for individual and combined parent and teacher report for externalizing, internalizing, and total problem scores on the Child Behavior Checklist.

RESULTS

The Goodness of Fit Statistics indicated that all of the models met criteria for adequate fit with 7 of the 9 models explaining 18 to 60% of the variance in behavior problems at age 7. The paths in the models indicate that there are direct effects of prenatal substance exposure on 7-year behavior problems as well as indirect effects, including neurobehavioral dysregulation.

CONCLUSIONS

Prenatal substance exposure affects behavior problems at age 7 through two mechanisms. The direct pathway is consistent with a teratogenic effect. Indirect pathways suggest cascading effects where prenatal substance exposure results in neurobehavioral dysregulation manifesting as deviations in later behavioral expression. Developmental models provide an understanding of pathways that describe how prenatal substance exposure affects child outcome and have significant implications for early identification and prevention.

In this longitudinal study of prenatal cocaine exposure (PCE), school-age physical and cognitive development and behavioral characteristics were examined, while controlling for other factors that affect child development. At this follow-up phase, children were on average 7.2 years old, and their caregivers were 33.7 years old, had 12.5 years of education, and 48% were African American. During the first trimester, 20% of the women were frequent cocaine users (≥ 1 line/day). First trimester cocaine exposure predicted decreased weight and height at 7 years. There was no significant relationship between PCE and the cognitive and neuropsychological measures. Third trimester cocaine use predicted more total and externalizing behavior problems on the Child Behavior Checklist [3] and the Teacher Report Form [4], and increased activity, inattention, and impulsivity on the Routh Activity [67] and SNAP scales [55]. Children who were exposed to cocaine throughout pregnancy had more mother- and teacher-rated behavior problems compared to children of women who stopped using early in pregnancy or who never used cocaine prenatally. These detrimental effects of PCE on behavior are consistent with other reports in the literature and with the hypothesis that PCE affects development through changes in neurotransmitter systems. These school-age behaviors may be precursors of later adolescent behavior problems.

Objective

To compare plasma catecholamine concentrations between cocaine-exposed and unexposed term newborns and to determine the relationship between plasma catecholamines and newborn behavior.

Methods

Forty-six newborn infants participating in a prospective study of the neonatal and long-term effects of prenatal cocaine exposure were studied. Based on maternal self-report, maternal urine screening, and infant meconium analysis, 24 infants were classified as cocaine-exposed and 22 as unexposed. Between 24 and 72 hours postpartum, plasma samples for norepinephrine (NE), epinephrine, dopamine, and dihydroxyphenylalanine analysis were obtained. The Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale was administered at 1 to 3 days of age and at 2 weeks of age by examiners masked to the drug exposure status of the newborns.

Results

The cocaine-exposed newborns had increased plasma NE concentrations when compared to the unexposed infants (geometric mean, 923 pg/mL vs 667 pg/mL). There were no significant differences in plasma epinephrine, dopamine, or dihydroxyphenylalanine concentrations. Analysis for the effect of potential confounding variables revealed that maternal marijuana use was also associated with increased plasma NE, although birth weight, gender, and maternal use of alcohol or cigarettes were not. Geometric mean plasma NE was 1164 pg/mL in those infants with in utero exposure to both cocaine and marijuana compared to 812 pg/mL in those exposed to only cocaine and 667 pg/mL in those exposed to neither. Among the cocaine-exposed infants, plasma NE concentration correlated with an increased score for the depressed cluster (r = .53) and a decreased score for the orientation cluster (r = −.43) of the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale administered at 1 to 3 days of age. Adjusting for marijuana exposure had no effect on these relationships between plasma NE and the depressed and orientation clusters.

Conclusion

Plasma NE is increased in newborns exposed to cocaine and marijuana. Increased plasma NE is associated with selected neurobehavioral disturbances among cocaine exposed infants at 1 to 3 days of life but not at 2 weeks.

Objective:

This study aimed to examine the association between child behavior problems and caregiver commitment to their child in a group of young foster children.

Method:

The sample consisted of 102 caregiver-child dyads from the greater Baltimore area. Child behavior was assessed using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL; Achenbach, 1991, 1992), and caregiver commitment was assessed using a semi-structured interview known as the “This is My Baby” Interview (Bates & Dozier, 1998). For a sub-sample of the dyads (N = 76), we examined caregiver commitment and parent-reported child behavior at two time points in order to examine the stability of a caregiver’s commitment over time and to examine the direction of the association between the two variables.

Results:

Overall, caregiver reported child behavior was significantly associated with caregiver commitment. Both caregiver reported child behavior and caregiver commitment were highly stable over an 11-month period. When we examined the data over time, the effect of caregiver reported child behavior at time 1 on caregiver commitment at time 2 was not significantly larger than the effect of caregiver commitment at time 1 on caregiver reported child behavior at time 2. As a result, we were not able to determine the direction of the association between caregiver reported child behavior and caregiver commitment.

Conclusions:

Our results indicate that caregiver reported child behavior is significantly associated with caregiver commitment to their foster children, even after controlling for factors including age of entry into foster care and time in placement.

Objective

To examine the impact of prenatal cocaine exposure and maternal behavioral health (recent drug use and psychological functioning) on child behavior at age 5 years.

Method

In this longitudinal investigation, maternal report of child behavior was assessed using the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) in 140 cocaine-exposed and 181 noncocaine-exposed (61 alcohol, tobacco, and/or marijuana-exposed, and 120 nondrug-exposed) low-income, African American children. Structural equation modeling was used to estimate suspected causal relationships between indicators of maternal behavioral health at 5-year follow-up, according to self-report on a modified Addiction Severity Index (ASI) and CBCL scores.

Results

Prenatal cocaine exposure was not related to child behavior at age 5. Recent maternal drug use and psychological functioning had relationships with CBCL Internalizing and Externalizing scores. However, when considered within a combined model, only maternal psychological functioning remained significant.

Conclusions

Findings highlight the importance of maternal functioning in the behavioral outcome of children exposed prenatally to cocaine.

This study examined children’s (n = 140, age 5 years) ability to inhibit a motor response as a function of prenatal cocaine exposure. We hypothesized that cocaine-exposed children would perform worse than unexposed children on the Contrary Tapping task. Results indicated that cocaine exposure, high environmental risk, male gender, and low child IQ each were related to poorer inhibitory control. An interaction indicated that cocaine effects were specific to children who lived in relatively low-risk environments. Cocaine-exposed children made an error sooner than unexposed children if they lived in low-risk environments but not if they lived in high-risk environments. Potential underlying mechanisms and the importance of examining cocaine exposure effects in the context of children’s existing environment are discussed.

Objectives: This study examined the association between prenatal cocaine exposure and children’s self-regulation at 3 years of child age. In addition to direct effects of prenatal cocaine exposure on children’s self-regulation, we hypothesized there would be indirect associations between cocaine exposure and self-regulation via higher maternal harshness and poor autonomic regulation in infancy. Methods: The sample consisted of 216 mother–infant dyads recruited at delivery from local area hospitals (116 cocaine-exposed, 100 non-exposed). Infant autonomic regulation was measured at 7 months of age during an anger/frustration task, maternal harshness was coded from observations of mother–toddler interactions at 2 years of age, and children’s self-regulation was measured at 3 years of age using several laboratory paradigms. Results: Contrary to hypotheses, there were no direct associations between maternal cocaine use during pregnancy and children’s self-regulation. However, results from testing our conceptual model including the indirect effects via maternal harshness or infant parasympathetic regulation indicated that this model fit the data well, χ2 (23) = 34.36, p > 0.05, Comparative Fit Index = 0.95, RMSEA = 0.05. Cocaine using mothers displayed higher intensity of harshness toward their toddlers during lab interactions across a variety of tasks at 2 years of age (β = 0.23, p < 0.05), and higher intensity of harshness at 2 years was predictive of lower self-regulation at 3 years (β = −0.36, p < 0.01). Maternal cocaine use was also predictive of a non-adaptive increase in respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) from baseline to the negative affect task, but RSA change in infancy was not predictive of self-regulation at 3 years. Conclusion: Results are supportive of animal models indicating higher aggression among cocaine treated dams, and indicate that higher maternal harshness among cocaine using mothers is predictive of child self-regulatory outcomes in the preschool period.

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 (≥ 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.

This study examined the effects of prenatal cocaine exposure, environmental risk, and maternal verbal intelligence on children's cognitive ability. Gender and age were examined as moderators of potential cocaine exposure effects. The Stanford-Binet IV intelligence test was administered to 231 children (91 cocaine exposed, 140 unexposed) at 4, 6, and 9 years of age. Neonatal medical risk and other prenatal exposures (alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana) were also examined for their unique effects on child IQ. Mixed models analysis indicated that prenatal cocaine exposure interacted with gender as cocaine exposed boys had lower composite IQ scores. Age of assessment did not moderate this relation, indicating that cocaine exposed boys had lower IQs across this age period. A stimulating home environment and high maternal verbal IQ also predicted higher composite IQ scores. Cocaine exposed boys had lower scores on the Abstract/Visual Reasoning subscale, with trends for lower scores on the Short-term Memory and Verbal Reasoning subscales, as exposure effects were observed across domains. The findings indicate that cocaine exposure continues to place children at risk for mild cognitive deficits into preadolescence. Possible mechanisms for the exposure by gender interaction are discussed.

Little is known about rates and correlates of suicidal ideation among nonclinical samples of preadolescents from low-income urban backgrounds. Using the Children’s Depression Inventory, we measured suicidal ideation in 131 preadolescent urban children (49% female, 90% African American/Caribbean) participating in an ongoing prospective longitudinal study of prenatal cocaine exposure and children’s outcome. Suicidal ideation was reported by 14.5% of the children in this sample at 9 to 10 years of age. Children’s reports of depressive symptoms, exposure to violence, and distress symptoms in response to witnessing violence were associated with suicidal ideation, but prenatal cocaine exposure, parent-rated child behavior, and caregivers’ psychological distress symptoms were not. Suicidal ideation may be more prevalent among preadolescents from urban, low-income backgrounds than clinicians suspect, particularly among children exposed to violence.

This study examined differences between cocaine and non-cocaine-using mothers, and between parental and non-parental caregivers of cocaine-exposed infants on caregiver childhood trauma, psychiatric symptoms, demographic, and perinatal risks. Participants included 115 cocaine and 105 non-cocaine mother–infant dyads recruited at delivery. Approximately 19% of cocaine mothers lost custody of their infants by 1 month of infant age compared to 0.02% of non-cocaine mothers. Mothers who used cocaine during pregnancy had higher demographic and obstetric risks. Their infants had higher perinatal risks. Birth mothers who retained custody of their infants had higher demographic risks and perinatal risks, higher childhood trauma, and higher psychiatric symptoms compared to birth mothers who did not use cocaine and non-parental caregivers of cocaine-exposed infants. Results highlight the importance of addressing childhood trauma issues and current psychiatric symptoms in substance abuse treatment with women who engaged in substance use during pregnancy.

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of prenatal cocaine exposure and associated risk factors on infant reactivity and regulation at 7 months of infant age. Participants consisted of 167 mother-infant dyads participating in an ongoing longitudinal study of prenatal cocaine exposure, who completed the arm-restraint procedure at the 7-month assessment (87 cocaine exposed, 80 non-cocaine exposed). We hypothesized that cocaine exposed infants would display higher arousal or reactivity and lower regulation during a procedure designed to arouse anger/frustration. Results indicated that cocaine exposed infants were more reactive to increases in the level of stress from trial 1 to trial 2 but exhibited no change in the number of regulatory strategies as stress increased, unlike the control group infants. Infant birth weight moderated the association between cocaine exposure and infant regulation. Among cocaine exposed infants, those with lower birth weight displayed higher reactivity compared to those with higher birth weight. Contrary to expectations, there were no indirect effects between cocaine exposure and infant reactivity/regulation via environmental risk, parenting, or birth weight. Results are supportive of a teratological model of prenatal cocaine exposure for infant reactivity/regulation in infancy.

Objective

Parents’ behavior management practices, parental stress, and family environment are highly pertinent to children’s conduct problems. Preadolescents’ psychiatric hospitalization usually arises because of severe conduct problems, so the relationships of family-related variables to postdischarge functioning warrant investigation. This study examined postdischarge clinical course and select family factors to model outcomes via a) predictors measured at admission, b) predictors measured concurrently with outcome, and c) changes in predictor values from admission through follow-up.

Method

In a prospective follow-up of 107 child psychiatry inpatients, caregivers completed rating scales pertaining to their child’s behavior, parenting practices, parenting stress, caregiver strain, and their own psychological distress at admission and three, six, and 12 months after discharge.

Results

The magnitude of reductions in parenting stress between admission and follow-up bore the strongest relationship to improvements in externalizing behavior. The largest and most sustained decreases in externalizing behavior arose among youngsters whose parents reported high parenting stress at admission and low parenting stress after discharge. By contrast, children whose parents reported low parenting stress at admission and follow-up showed significantly less postdischarge improvement. Parenting stress changes were not attributable to changes in behavioral symptoms. Parenting stress eclipsed relationships between behavior management practices and child outcomes, suggesting that parenting stress might have a mediational role.

Conclusions

High initial parenting stress disposed to better outcomes over the year of follow-up. Consistently low stress predicted less improvement. Higher stress at admission may imply more advantageous parent–child relationships or motivation for subsequent persistence with treatment. Interventions that ameliorate high stress may warrant further study. Low parenting stress might signify disengagement, or, alternatively, that parents of some chronically impaired children become rather inured to fluctuations in behavioral problems. If confirmed, further examination of these and other accounts for a relationship between low parenting stress and suboptimal child outcome seems warranted.

Objective

To determine whether maternal violence-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), reflective functioning (RF), and/or quality of mental representations of her child predict maternal behavior within a referred sample of interpersonal violence-exposed mothers and their children (ages 8–50 months).

Method

Forty-one dyads completed two videotaped visits including measures of maternal mental representations and behavior.

Results

Negative and distorted maternal mental representations predicted atypical behavior (Cohen’s d>1.0). While maternal PTSD and RF impacted mental representations, no significant relationships were found between PTSD, RF, and overall atypical caregiving behavior. Severity of maternal PTSD was however positively correlated with the avoidant caregiving behavior subscale.

Conclusions

Maternal mental representations of her child are useful risk-indicators that mark dysregulation of trauma-associated emotions in the caregiver.

Objective

To assess 6-year-old cocaine- and noncocaine-exposed children's mental health outcomes controlling for potential confounders.

Methods

The sample consisted of 322 children [169 cocaine exposed (CE) and 153 noncocaine exposed (NCE)] enrolled in a longitudinal study since birth. At age 6, children were assessed for mental health symptoms using the Dominic Interactive (DI), a child self-report measure, and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), a caregiver report of behavioral problems.

Results

CE children were more likely to self-report symptoms in the probable clinical range for oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In contrast, prenatal cocaine exposure was not related to child behavior based on the CBCL. After control for exposure, CE children in adoptive or foster care were rated as having more problems with aggression, externalizing behaviors, and total behavioral problems than NCE children and CE children in maternal or relative care. Also, CE children in adoptive or foster care self-reported more externalizing symptoms than CE children in maternal or relative care and NCE children. Findings could not be attributed to caregiver intelligence or depressive symptoms, or to the quality of the home environment.

Conclusions

CE children report more symptoms of ODD and ADHD than nonexposed children. Adoptive or foster caregivers rated their CE children as having more behavioral problems than did maternal or relative caregivers of CE children or parents of NCE children. Although further studies are needed to understand the basis for the more negative ratings by adoptive or foster caregivers of their CE children, the self-report of CE children indicates a need for psychological interventions.

Background

Prenatal cocaine exposure has been linked to intrauterine growth retardation and poor birth outcomes; little is known about the effects on longer-term medical outcomes, such as overweight status and hypertension in childhood. Our objective was to examine the association between prenatal cocaine exposure and body mass index and blood pressure at 9 years of age among children followed prospectively in a multi-site longitudinal study evaluating the impact of maternal lifestyle during pregnancy on childhood outcome.

Design/Methods

This analysis includes 880 children (277 cocaine exposed and 603 with no cocaine exposure) with blood pressure, height, and weight measurements at 9 years of age. Regression analyses were conducted to explore the relationship between prenatal cocaine exposure and body mass index and blood pressure at 9 years of age after controlling for demographics, other drug exposure, birth weight, maternal weight, infant postnatal weight gain, and childhood television viewing, exercise and dietary habits at 9 years. Path analyses were used to further explore these relationships.

Results

At 9 years of age, 15% of the children were pre-hypertensive and 19% were hypertensive; 16% were at risk for overweight status and 21% were overweight. A small percentage of women were exposed to high levels of prenatal cocaine throughout pregnancy. Among children born to these women, a higher body mass index was noted. Path analysis suggested that high cocaine exposure has an indirect effect on systolic and diastolic blood pressure that is mediated through its effect on body mass index.

Conclusion

High levels of in-utero cocaine exposure are a marker for elevated body mass index and blood pressure among children born full term.

Objectives

To examine how much distress children report in response to violence that they have witnessed and how this is associated with parental reports of children’s behavior.

Methods

As part of a study of in utero exposure to cocaine, children completed the Levonn interview for assessing children’s symptoms of distress in response to witnessing violence. The children’s care givers completed the Exposure to Violence Interview (EVI), a caretaker-report measure of the child’s exposure to violent events during the last 12 months. The EVI was analyzed as a 3-level variable: no exposure, low exposure, and high exposure. The caregivers also completed the Children’s Behavior Checklist (CBCL).

Results

Of 94 six-year-old children, 58% had no exposure to violence, 36% had low exposure to violence, and 6% had high exposure to violence, according to caretaker reports. The children’s median ±SD Levonn score was 64 (SD ± 19.3). The mean (SD ± CBCL total T-score was 53 (SD ± 10.2). In multiple regression analyses with gender, low and high exposure on EVI, Levonn, and prenatal cocaine exposure status as predictors, the Levonn score explained 4.8% of total variance in children’s CBCL internalizing scores, 9.1% of the total variance in CBCL externalizing score, and 12.2% of the total variance in CBCL total score (P = .04, P = .004, and P <.001, respectively).

Conclusions

After accounting for the caretaker’s report of the level of the child’s exposure to violence, the child’s own report significantly increased the amount of variance in predicting child behavior problems with the CBCL. These findings indicate that clinicians and researchers should elicit children’s own accounts of exposure to violence in addition to the caretakers’ when attempting to understand children’s behavior.