Infant Behaviors, Prenatal Cocaine Exposure, and Adult Intelligence.

Importance: Linking prenatal drug exposures to both infant behavior and adult cognitive outcomes may improve early interventions.

Objective: To assess whether neonatal physical, neurobehavioral, and infant cognitive measures mediate the association between prenatal cocaine exposure (PCE) and adult perceptual reasoning IQ.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This study used data from a longitudinal, prospective birth cohort study with follow-up from 1994 to 2018 until offspring were 21 years post partum.

Association between longitudinal patterns of child maltreatment experiences and adolescent substance use.

Background: Although there is a well-established link between child maltreatment and adolescent substance use, it remains unclear if and how longitudinal patterns of maltreatment experiences are associated with substance use in adolescence.

Objective: The purpose of the study was to examine how distinct patterns of longitudinal maltreatment experiences are associated with adolescent substance use.

Participants And Setting: The participants were 899 adolescents from the Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN).

Co-occurrence of Psychopathology Problems in At-Risk Adolescents.

No known studies have investigated co-occurrence of psychopathology problems in adolescents with biologic and/or environmental susceptibility, including prenatal drug exposure. This study identified comorbidity patterns of psychopathology problems by utilizing data from urban, primarily African American, youth, majority of whom were at heightened risk for exposure to drugs in utero. The roles of Research Domain Criteria (RDoC)-informed behavioral constructs of the Negative Valence (irritability) and Social Process Systems (social disinhibition) as antecedents of the comorbidity patterns were further examined.

Prenatal cocaine exposure and self-reported behavioral adjustments from ages 12 to 21: environmental pathways.

Background: In a birth-cohort study, we followed offspring with prenatal cocaine exposure (PCE) to investigate longitudinal associations of PCE with self-reported behavioral adjustment from early adolescence to emerging adulthood (EA). Environmental pathways (family functioning, non-kinship care, maltreatment) were specified as potential mediators of PCE.

Methods: Participants were 372 (190 PCE; 47% male), primarily Black, low socioeconomic status, enrolled at birth.

Cognitive and functional outcomes at age 21 after prenatal cocaine/polydrug exposure and foster/adoptive care.

Objective: Prenatal cocaine exposure (PCE) has been linked to specific cognitive deficits and behavioral outcomes through early adolescence but there is little information on adult outcomes nor on the relationship of environmental interventions, such as foster/adoptive care, to outcomes.

Methods: At 21 years, data were available on 325 young adults, [163 PCE and 162 non-exposed (NCE)], primarily African-American, with low SES, who were followed from birth in a prospective longitudinal cohort study. Participants were administered the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI-II) and surveyed regarding high school completion, problematic substance use, and incarceration/probation history.

The association of prenatal cocaine exposure with expressive and receptive language skills, phonological processing and reading ability at age 17.

Objective: Prenatal cocaine exposure (PCE) has been associated with small but significant effects on language development in childhood and early adolescence. This study examined whether this association persists into later adolescence and what relationship language skills may have with reading proficiency in this population.

Methods: Enrolled were 338 (167 with PCE, 171 with NCE or no cocaine exposure) 17-year-olds recruited at birth who, together with their current caregiver, were seen as part of a 17-year follow-up.

Self-reported mental health outcomes in prenatally cocaine exposed adolescents at 17 years of age.

Objective: Adverse developmental effects of prenatal cocaine exposure (PCE) are hypothesized to extend into late adolescence, yet few studies have investigated the association between PCE and late adolescent mental health outcomes. We examined the associations between PCE and self-reported mental health symptoms at age 17, controlling for biologic and environmental confounders. We further explored the potential moderating role of sex and the mediating role of earlier drug use by age 15 in the associations.

Personal Social Networks and Relapses in Women With Substance Dependence: Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior.

Objective: Establishing positive network resources and rebuilding drug free networks are key components of recovery process for women with substance use disorder (SUDs). Theory of planned behavior (TPB) posits that behaviors are determined by behavioral intentions, which are determined by three factors: attitude toward the behavior, perceived behavioral control, and subjective norms. The current study applied TPB to examine whether women's personal social network characteristics (as subjective norms) were related to intentions towards, and/or a substance use relapse using prospective research design.

Substance use and individual assets in urban adolescents: Subgroups and correlates in emerging adulthood.

Introduction: To investigate patterns of divergence in adolescent adjustment, this study examined the co-occurring patterns of adolescents' individual assets (e.g., school engagement, values) and substance use, and whether the co-occurring patterns were associated with later functioning in emerging adulthood.

Preschool blood lead levels, language competency, and substance use in adolescence.

Background: Elevated lead levels in children are a persistent public health problem, particularly in urban areas in the United States, yet few prospective studies have examined the association of childhood lead levels with substance use in adolescence.

Objectives: To determine the association of early lead levels with adolescent substance use and whether childhood IQ, language skills, and externalizing (aggressive and disruptive) behavior mediate the association, controlling for confounding biological and environmental factors.

Methods: The participants (N = 265) were a subsample of a prospective birth cohort study on the developmental effects of prenatal cocaine exposure in the Midwest United States.

Fatty acid ethyl esters in meconium and substance use in adolescence.

Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) continues to be a serious public health problem, yet no reliable clinical tools are available for assessing levels of drinking during pregnancy. Fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEEs), the nonoxidative metabolites of ethanol measured in meconium, are potential biomarkers to quantify the level of PAE. The association between the concentrations of FAEEs from meconium and adolescent substance use and related problems was examined in a prospective birth-cohort of adolescents exposed to alcohol and drugs in utero.

Association of fatty acid ethyl esters in meconium with behavior during childhood.

Objective: To examine associations between amounts of fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEEs) in meconium and behavior in school aged children exposed to alcohol and drugs in utero.

Methods: A secondary analysis of a prospective cohort of cocaine, polydrug exposed children, primarily African-American, low socioeconomic status, recruited at birth into a longitudinal study. FAEEs were quantified with gas chromatography via a flame ionization detector.

Profiles of individual assets and mental health symptoms in at-risk early adolescents.

Introduction: Few studies investigated the combined patterns of individual assets (e.g., social competence, positive identity) and mental health symptoms (MHS) in adolescents.

Developmental trajectories of externalizing behavior from ages 4 to 12: Prenatal cocaine exposure and adolescent correlates.

Background: Although prenatal cocaine exposure (PCE) has been linked with greater externalizing behavior, no studies have investigated heterogeneity of developmental trajectories in children with PCE to date. The present study aimed to: (1) identify developmental trajectories of externalizing problems in childhood by using a person-oriented analytic approach; (2) examine whether trajectories differ by PCE and other environmental and biological correlates; and (3) investigate how trajectories were associated with adolescent substance use and sexual behavior.

Methods: Adolescents (N = 386; 197 PCE, 187 non-cocaine exposed (NCE)), primarily African-American and of low socioeconomic status, were prospectively enrolled in a longitudinal study at birth.

Factor Structure of the Urban Hassles Index.

Objective: This study examined the factor structure and psychometric properties of the Urban Hassles Index (UHI).

Methods: Exploratory factor analyses (EFA) were conducted via Principal Axis Factoring extraction method. Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to evaluate the fit of the EFA-derived model using the weighted least squares estimator with mean and variance adjustments.

Prenatal and concurrent cocaine, alcohol, marijuana, and tobacco effects on adolescent cognition and attention.

Background: Prenatal cocaine/polydrug exposure (PCE) may increase vulnerability to substance use disorders due to associated cognitive deficits. We examined whether neurocognitive deficits in executive functions and attention observed in PCE children persisted to adolescence when compared to non-cocaine/polydrug (NCE) children, and whether adolescent substance use (tobacco, alcohol, marijuana) was also associated with neurocognitive deficits.

Methods: 354 (180 PCE, 174 NCE) adolescents in a longitudinal study from birth were administered the Wechsler Intelligence Scales for Children - IV (WISC-IV), and the Integrated Visual and Auditory Continuous Performance Test (IVA/CPT) at age 15.

Individual assets and problem behaviors in at-risk adolescents: A longitudinal cross-lagged analysis.

Autoregressive cross-lagged structural equation modeling was conducted to examine longitudinal relationships between individual assets (social competence, positive values and identity) and problem behaviors in 373 adolescents (174 boys, 199 girls) who participated in a prospective study on the effects of prenatal cocaine exposure from birth. More behavioral problems at age 12 were related to fewer individual assets at age 15, while greater individual assets were related to more behavioral problems, with a non-significant yet nuanced (p = .076) gender difference.

Blood lead levels and longitudinal language outcomes in children from 4 to 12 years.

Objectives: In this study, the authors aimed to examine the association of a range of blood lead levels on language skills assessed at 4, 6, 10 and 12 years of age using a prospective longitudinal design controlling for potential confounding variables including maternal vocabulary, caregiver's psychological distress and symptomatology, child's race and prenatal drug exposure.

Methods: The participants (N = 278) were a subsample of a large longitudinal study that examined the association of prenatal drug exposure on children who were followed prospectively from birth and assessed for receptive and expressive language skills at 4, 6, 10 and 12 years of age. Blood lead levels were determined at 4-years of age by atomic absorption spectrometry.

Formal and Informal Concrete Support and Discharge Disposition among Women in Substance Abuse Treatment in the U.S.

The purpose of this study is to examine the relative contribution and the relationships between formal (treatment related members) • informal (family members) concrete support and discharge disposition. A total of 172 women interviewed upon intake in one of 3 counties funded substance abuse treatment programs in Cleveland, Ohio. Hierarchical logistic regression was performed to assess the impact of formal concrete support and informal concrete support on the likelihood of a discharge disposition of completed treatment.

Association of prenatal cocaine exposure, childhood maltreatment, and responses to stress in adolescence.

Background: Prenatal cocaine exposure (PCE) may alter responses to stress. Children with PCE tend to grow up in suboptimal caregiving environments, conducive to child maltreatment (CM). Guided by the diathesis-stress model, the present study examined differences in self-reported responses to stress and coping in adolescents with and without PCE and explored whether childhood maltreatment (CM) moderated the effects of PCE.

The association of prenatal cocaine exposure, externalizing behavior and adolescent substance use.

Prenatal cocaine exposure (PCE) may increase adolescent substance use through alterations of neurotransmitter systems affecting fetal brain development. The relationship between PCE and substance use at 15 and 17 years was examined. Subjects (365: 186 PCE; 179 non-cocaine exposed (NCE)) supplied biologic and self-report data using the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) and Computerized Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children (C-DISC 4) at ages 15 and 17.

Executive function in children with prenatal cocaine exposure (12-15years).

Purpose: Prenatal exposure to cocaine (PCE) may alter areas of the brain dense with monoamine receptors such as the prefrontal cortex and negatively affect cognitive processes implicated in executive function (EF). This study investigated the effects of PCE on EF at 12 and 15years.

Methods: EF was examined in 189 PCE and 183 non-cocaine exposed (NCE) children who were primarily African American and of low socioeconomic status.

Pathways to adolescent sexual risk behaviors: Effects of prenatal cocaine exposure.

Background: To assess the impact of prenatal cocaine exposure (PCE) on adolescent sexual risk behaviors. Externalizing behavior, teen substance use, and early sexual intercourse were examined as pathways mediating the effects of PCE on sexual risk behaviors.

Methods: Adolescents (N=364; 185 PCE, 179 non-cocaine exposure (NCE); 205 girls, 159 boys), primarily African-American and of low socioeconomic status, were prospectively enrolled in a longitudinal study at birth.