Prenatal Cocaine Exposure and Young Children's Development

Abstract

The current state of knowledge about the neurodevelopmental sequelae of prenatal cocaine exposure is reviewed. Maternal cocaine use is associated with a number of other factors such as poor nutrition, inadequate prenatal care, and exposure to other substances, including alcohol and tobacco, that also affect neurodevelopmental outcome. The effects of postnatal maternal cocaine use on the mother's capacity to care for the infant as well as the association of cocaine use with more general environmental factors—for example, poverty, violence, neglect, and abuse—are discussed as important factors to consider when attempting to define whether or not prenatal cocaine exposure has specific and unique effects on the developing fetal brain. Six methodological problems commonly found in the literature on prenatal cocaine exposure are cited as issues to consider when attempting to evaluate the validity of currently available findings.