Developmental and behavioral consequences of prenatal cocaine exposure: a review

Recently, studies show that 5.1% of pregnant women 15-44 years of age use illegal drugs. Also, 32% of these women acknowledge to using alcohol and tobacco. Cocaine is currently one of the most commonly abused illegal drugs in the United States.

Cocaine crosses the placenta affecting the central nervous system during pregnancy. The effects are determined by dosage, timing, and duration of exposure. Areas such as the frontal lobes are easily influenced by cocaine, which can compromise the child’s behavioral regulatory system. These children are more prone to stress related diseases, depressed immune systems, and interruptions in sleep cycles.  Additionally, these children are more prone to conditions such as ADHD and depression.

Cocaine also affects a child’s physical growth. Children usually are slow to develop. There head, weight, and length are usually smaller at birth than children who have not been exposed to cocaine.

Cocaine has not been found to affect a child’s intelligence. The demographics of a child are what mainly affect their academic performance. So if a child is born into a low-income family regardless of prenatal exposure to drugs they can have a lower academic performance.

Furthermore, not just cocaine alone affects a child. The pre-existing conditions affect the child as well. Parenting styles, genetics, environment, and sociodemographics all contribute to whether children will experience effects from prenatal cocaine exposure. In the future, scientists are going to be focusing more on the behaviors of pre-natal cocaine children later in life rather than when they are babies.

http://www.nature.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/jp/journal/v32/n11/full/jp201290a.html