THE EFFECTS OF MATERNAL ALCOHOL-CONSUMPTION AND CIGARETTE-SMOKING DURING PRE ACOUSTIC CRY ANALYSIS

During the last trimester of pregnancy, 127 primiparous Irish mothers were interviewed to ascertain their history of alcohol and tobacco use . Confounding effects due to other drugs were not a factor in this sam ple. Mothers consumed an average of .21 ounces absolute alcohol (AA) p er day, with 62% classified as moderate drinkers, 10.6% as heavy drink ers, and 26% as nondrinkers. Neurobehavioral status was measured using acoustic characteristics of the infant's cry, collected on the third day of life. Multiple regression analysis showed that more ounces AA p er day was related to more dysphonation and higher first formant, whil e more cigarette smoking was related to higher pitch, higher second fo rmant, and more variability in the second formant. Analysis of varianc e comparisons of these 3 alcohol groups demonstrated significant cry e ffects on infants of heavy drinking mothers.