Prenatal substance exposure: neurobiologic organization at 1 month.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the autonomic nervous system and neurobehavioral response to a sustained visual attention challenge in 1-month-old infants with prenatal substance exposure. STUDY DESIGN: We measured heart rate, respiratory sinus arrhythmia, and neurobehavior during sustained visual orientation tasks included in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Network Neurobehavioral Scale in 1129 1-month-old infants with prenatal substance exposure. Four groups were compared: infants with prenatal cocaine and opiate exposure, infants with cocaine exposure, infants with opiate exposure, and infants with exposure to other substances (ie, alcohol, marijuana, and tobacco). RESULTS: The infants with prenatal exposure to both cocaine and opiates had the highest heart rates and lowest levels of respiratory sinus arrhythmia during a sustained visual attention challenge compared with the other 3 groups. Infants with prenatal cocaine and opiate exposure had poorer quality of movement and more hypertonicity during the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Network Neurobehavioral Scale examination. They also had more nonoptimal reflexes and stress/abstinence signs compared with infants with prenatal exposure to cocaine only and those with prenatal exposure to alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana. CONCLUSION: Problems with arousal regulation were identified in infants with prenatal substance exposure. Autonomic dysregulation has been implicated as a mechanism by which these difficulties occur. Our results suggest that infants with prenatal exposure to both cocaine and opiates have the greatest autonomic response to the challenge of a sustained visual attention task, possibly putting these infants at risk for problems associated with physiologic and behavioral regulation, a necessary prerequisite for early learning.

Neurobehavioral disinhibition predicts initiation of substance use in children with prenatal cocaine exposure.

BACKGROUND: In previous work we (Fisher et al., 2011) examined the emergence of neurobehavioral disinhibition (ND) in adolescents with prenatal substance exposure. We computed ND factor scores at three age points (8/9, 11 and 13/14 years) and found that both prenatal substance exposure and early adversity predicted ND. The purpose of the current study was to determine the association between these ND scores and initiation of substance use between ages 8 and 16 in this cohort as early initiation of substance use has been related to later substance use disorders. Our hypothesis was that prenatal cocaine exposure predisposes the child to ND, which, in turn, is associated with initiation of substance use by age 16. METHODS: We studied 386 cocaine exposed and 517 unexposed children followed since birth in a longitudinal study. Five dichotomous variables were computed based on the subject's report of substance use: alcohol only; tobacco only; marijuana only; illicit substances and any substance. RESULTS: Cox proportional hazard regression showed that the 8/9 year ND score was related to initiation of alcohol, tobacco, illicit and any substance use but not marijuana use. The trajectory of ND across the three age periods was related to substance use initiation in all five substance use categories. Prenatal cocaine exposure, although initially related to tobacco, marijuana and illicit substance initiation, was no longer significant with ND scores in the models. CONCLUSION: Prenatal drug exposure appears to be a risk pathway to ND, which by 8/9 years portends substance use initiation.

Sleep problems in children with prenatal substance exposure: the Maternal Lifestyle study.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the associations between sleep problems and prenatal exposure to cocaine, opiates, marijuana, alcohol, and nicotine in children aged 1 month to 12 years. DESIGN: Sleep data were collected by maternal report in a prospective longitudinal follow-up of children participating in the Maternal Lifestyle multisite study. SETTING: Hospital-based research centers in Providence, Rhode Island; Miami, Florida; Detroit, Michigan; and Memphis, Tennessee. PARTICIPANTS: There were 808 participants, 374 exposed to cocaine and/or opiates, and 434 comparison subjects. MAIN EXPOSURE: Prenatal cocaine, opiate, marijuana, alcohol, and/or nicotine exposure. OUTCOME MEASURE: Sleep problems in early, middle, and/or late childhood, assessed as composites of maternal report items. RESULTS: Of the 5 substances, prenatal nicotine exposure was the only unique predictor of sleep problems (B = 0.074, R(2) change = 0.008, P = .01), with adjustment for covariates, including socioeconomic status, marital status, physical abuse, prenatal medical care, and postnatal cigarette smoke exposure. CONCLUSIONS: Prenatal exposure to nicotine was positively associated with children's sleep problems persisting throughout the first 12 years of life. Targeting of this group of children for educational and behavioral efforts to prevent and treat sleep problems is merited given that good sleep may serve as a protective factor for other developmental outcomes.