OUTCOME OF CHILDREN PRENATALLY EXPOSED TO COCAINE AND OTHER DRUGS - APATH-ANALYSIS OF 3-YEAR DATA

Objective. Cocaine and other drug use during pregnancy continues to be a major health concern. With increasing use of cocaine by women of ch ildbearing age, large numbers of children have been exposed to this an d other substances in utero. Currently, very little information regard ing the long-term developmental implications of cocaine/polydrug expos ure exists. The purpose of this study is to present 3-year cognitive a nd behavioral data on infants exposed to cocaine and other drugs durin g gestation. Methods. The subjects and controls in this study are curr ently enrolled in a longitudinal, prospective evaluation. At 3 years o f age, 92 children exposed to cocaine and other drugs, 25 children exp osed to multiple drugs but no cocaine, and 45 drug-free controls were evaluated using the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale (fourth edition) , the Child Behavioral Checklist, the Home Screening Questionnaire, an d a Summative Perseverance Scale. The data were analyzed using an a pr iori model and path analytic procedures. Results. The results indicate that prenatal drug exposure has significant direct and indirect effec ts on 3-year cognitive functioning as measured on the Stanford-Binet s cale. The fit indices indicated that overall, the hypothesized model a ccurately reflected the actual data. Conclusions. The findings of the study provide specific evidence elucidating the nature of long-term de velopmental risk associated with intrauterine drug exposure. Drug expo sure was found to have a direct effect on cognitive ability at 3 years of age. However, the effects of drug exposure are also mediated indir ectly through head circumference, home environment, and level of perse verance at a task. Future explorations should continue to utilize path analysis techniques to further clarify the ramifications of drug expo sure on the development of the growing child.