MATERNAL ASSESSMENT OF INFANT DEVELOPMENT - ASSOCIATIONS WITH ALCOHOLAND DRUG-USE IN PREGNANCY

Surveillance by parental concern has been advocated to assess whether formal child developmental testing is needed. To determine whether alc ohol intake or illicit drug use in pregnancy is associated with differ ences in maternal perception of infant development, mothers with ackno wledged alcohol and drug habits during pregnancy (N=120) were intervie wed at 11 months' postpartum, within 1 month before infant testing by use of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. Women with heavy alcoh ol intake during pregnancy (>3.5 oz absolute alcohol per week) were 15 -fold more likely to overestimate their infant's mental development (P < 0.05), whereas mothers using illicit drugs were 4-fold more likely to overestimate their infant's physical develop ment (P = 0.02). Given the frequent denial of substance abuse, we suggest that health care p roviders be cautious in accepting a lack of parental concern about a c hild's development and rely more heavily on formal testing, particular ly in high-risk populations.