Studies of prenatal exposure to drugs: Focusing on parental care of children

Abstract

A considerable body of research suggests that children who are prenatally exposed to alcohol and other drugs are also at risk for receiving poor quality parental care. Previous research in human behavioral teratology has focused on postnatal environment as a potential confounding factor. Yet, developmental theory suggests that development proceeds as a series of transactions between children's characteristics and their environments. In order that possible teratologic effects not be underestimated, future work needs to give more consideration to ways in which parental care may be influenced by child behavior and to ways in which postnatal environment might moderate the expression of teratologic effects. Studies must focus on the role of prenatal drug exposure within a broader system of variables that includes factors present in children's environments over time.