Verbal and nonverbal fluency in children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure

Objective: Executive function deficits, including Verbal fluency, have been documented in children with histories of prenatal alcohol exposure. Wherea s nonverbal fluency impairments have been reported in adults with such expo sure, these abilities have not been rested in children. Deficits in both ve rbal and nonverbal fluency were predicted and assessed in children and adol escents with histories of heavy prenatal alcohol exposure. Method: There was a total of 28 (54% female) subjects; children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure with (n = 10) and without (n = 8) fetal alcohol s yndrome (FAS) were compared to nonexposed controls (n = 10) on the design a nd verbal fluency measures from the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System. Both fluency measures consist of three conditions, including a new set-shi fting task. All tests require the generation of multiple responses within b oth rule and time constraints. Results: Data were analyzed using repeated measures analyses of variance an d hierarchical regression analyses. Compared to controls, children with hea vy prenatal alcohol exposure with and without FAS displayed deficits in bot h fluency domains, but did not differ from each other. In addition, prenata l alcohol exposure was a significant predictor of performance on the set-sh ifting design fluency task above and beyond performance on more traditional fluency tasks. IQ was not a significant predictor for the traditional or s et-shifting fluency measures, whereas diagnostic group remained a significa nt predictor when IQ was included in the model. Conclusions: This study adds to the literature on the integrity of executiv e functions in children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure, documenting f luency impairment in both verbal and nonverbal domains. It is important to note that these impairments were demonstrated in higher functioning alcohol -exposed children, both with and without FAS, and that diagnostic group exp lained such deficiencies above and beyond general intellectual ability.