Faculty Collaboration Database

Maternal assessment of infant development: associations with alcohol and drug use in pregnancy. Clin Pediatr (Phila) 1996 Dec;35(12):621-8

Date

12/01/1996

Pubmed ID

8970754

DOI

10.1177/000992289603501203

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-0030457402 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   11 Citations

Abstract

Surveillance by parental concern has been advocated to assess whether formal child developmental testing is needed. To determine whether alcohol intake or illicit drug use in pregnancy is associated with differences in maternal perception of infant development, mothers with acknowledge alcohol and drug habits during pregnancy (N = 120) were interviewed at 11 months' postpartum, within 1 month before infant testing by use of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. Women with heavy alcohol 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 development (P = 0.02). Given the frequent denial of substance abuse, we suggest that health care providers be cautious in accepting a lack of parental concern about a child's development and rely more heavily on formal testing, particularly in high-risk populations.

Author List

Seagull FN, Mowery JL, Simpson PM, Robinson TR, Martier SS, Sokol RJ, McCarver-May DG

Author

Pippa M. Simpson PhD Adjunct Professor in the Pediatrics department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Adult
Alcohol Drinking
Child Development
Female
Humans
Infant
Male
Pregnancy
Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects
Smoking
Substance-Related Disorders