Full length articleThe association of prenatal cocaine exposure, externalizing behavior and adolescent substance use
Section snippets
1 Introduction
Adolescent substance use is a significant concern in the United States, with 6.5% of 12th graders reporting daily marijuana use (Johnston et al., 2014), 1.0% of 12–17 year-olds reporting five or more drinks at one time at least five days during the past 30 days (Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, 2015) and 20.8% of high school students reporting binge drinking five or more drinks in a row on at least one day in the past 30 days (Kann et al., 2014). In 2014, the national rate of
Sample
The study sample consisted of 365 adolescents (186 PCE, 179 NCE) who were followed prospectively from birth and assessed for substance use at ages 15 and 17 years. The participants and their birth mother were recruited between September 1994 and June 1996 from a large urban teaching hospital in the Midwest for a longitudinal investigation of the developmental effects of prenatal cocaine exposure.
Drug toxicology screens were administered to 647 mothers and infants at delivery who were identified
Sample characteristics
Table 1 provides birth outcome and demographic characteristics of study participants by cocaine exposure status. Those with PCE had lower average gestational age, birth lengths, and head circumferences and were small for gestational age compared with non-exposed infants. Adolescents with PCE reported more externalizing behavior problems at age 12 and had lower IQ scores at age 15 than their non-exposed counterparts. Adolescents with PCE were more likely to be placed in non-kinship foster or
Overall findings and relationship to existing research
Data from this study indicate that both prenatal cocaine exposure and environmental factors are associated independently with increased incidence of teen substance use in the past 30 days and self-reported diagnosis of abuse or dependence of any substance by 17 years of age after control for covariates. Specifically, at ages 15 and 17, youth with PCE reported greater tobacco and marijuana use over the past 30 days. Past 30 day use likely indicates more regular use patterns. Interestingly, the
Contributors
Dr. Meeyoung Min performed the statistical analyses, and drafted the manuscript. Dr. Sonia Minnes conceptualized the paper, designed the study and interpreted the data. Dr. Adelaide Lang coordinated the study, performed the measurements, and proofread the manuscript. Ms. Miaoping Wu participated in the interpretation of data. Ms. June-Yung Kim assisted in the literature review, drafting, and proofing the manuscript. Ms. Meredith Francis assisted in the literature review, drafting, and proofing
Role of funding source
This research was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)R01 07957. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute of Drug Abuse or the National Institutes of Health. This publication was also made possible by the Clinical and Translational Science Collaborative of Cleveland, UL1TR000439 from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) component of the National
Conflict of interest
No conflict declared
Acknowledgements
Contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH. The authors would like to thank all of our families who participated in our research for 17 years. We would also like to thank Miaoping Wu, MS, Laurie Ellison, LISW, and Paul Weishampel, M.A. for research assistance, and Terri Lotz-Ganley for manuscript preparation and editorial assistance.
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Pathways from prenatal cocaine exposure to adult substance use and behavior
2024, Neurotoxicology and TeratologyIntrauterine Drug Exposure: Fetal and Postnatal Effects
2023, Avery's Diseases of the NewbornPrenatal cocaine exposure and substance use disorder in emerging adulthood at age 21
2023, Drug and Alcohol DependenceCitation Excerpt :These may include prenatal exposure to other substances such as alcohol (Larkby et al., 2011; Min et al., 2021b; Singer et al., 2021), tobacco (Maughan et al., 2004; Min et al., 2021a), and marijuana (Goldschmidt et al., 2000); maternal/caregiving factors, such as caregiver’s ongoing substance use (Elkington et al., 2011) and psychological distress (Min et al., 2018), the quality of home environment (Singer et al., 2008), and parental monitoring (Trucco, 2020); and environmental factors, such as exposure to violence (Delaney-Black et al., 2002; Kobulsky et al., 2016), sexual victimization (Cicchetti and Handley, 2019; Min et al., 2016), non-kinship adoptive/foster care placement (Linares et al., 2006; Sariaslan et al., 2022), and few ecological resources from family, school, and the community (Min et al., 2017; Tucker et al., 2013). We also assessed offspring sex and IQ as covariates given the well-documented sex differences in substance use (Becker et al., 2016; Minnes et al., 2017) and the impact of IQ on SUD (Harden et al., 2017). We hypothesized that PCE would be related to higher externalizing behaviors in childhood, which would in turn contribute to substance use and substance use related problems in adolescence, leading to SUD in emerging adulthood.
Self-reported mental health outcomes in prenatally cocaine exposed adolescents at 17 years of age
2022, Neurotoxicology and TeratologyCitation Excerpt :Elevated blood lead levels with known effects on children's behavior are prevalent among inner city children with PCE (Minnes et al., 2010). Adolescents with PCE are often exposed to suboptimal caregiving conditions, including caregivers' ongoing drug use, psychological distress (Minnes et al., 2010), with decreased receptive vocabulary skills (Minnes et al., 2014, 2017), and impoverished home environments (Min et al., 2015), all of which may be adversely related to the adolescents' mental health. Related environmental factors such as violence exposure (Gerteis et al., 2011; Lagasse et al., 2006; Richardson et al., 2016) or placement in foster or adoptive care (Barthelemy et al., 2016; Sousa et al., 2018) may also confound the associations of PCE with mental health symptoms.