But girls
who had prenatal exposure to similar amounts of cocaine were not more
likely to suffer from the same problems, Virginia Delaney-Black,
M.D., of Children’s Hospital of Michigan and colleagues found.
The study results are published in the Journal of Developmental and
Behavioral Pediatrics.
While no specific cause of the gender-specific findings was identified,
the researchers note that the study confirms animal studies that also suggest
gender plays a role in the effects of cocaine exposure.
Delaney-Black and colleagues say human studies have been “inconsistent” on
the question of whether prenatal cocaine exposure has gender-specific effects
on children’s development.
The study looked at 473 children in the Detroit area ages
6 to 7 whose mothers had received prenatal care and drug testing. About
200 of the
children in the study were prenatally exposed to cocaine. Children were
considered “persistently” exposed
if they or their mothers tested positive for traces of cocaine in their
urine at the time of birth.
To determine whether these children had a higher likelihood
of behavioral and other cognitive problems, Delaney-Black and colleagues
collected
information on the children’s behavior from their teachers.
After accounting for other factors like violence in the
home or neighborhood, parents’ income and marital status, boys
who had been persistently exposed to cocaine in the womb had more behavioral
problems and problems
with abstract thinking and motor skills than those who had never been
exposed to cocaine or those who had only some prenatal exposure to the
drug.
The study was supported by the National Institute on Drug
Abuse, the Helppie Institute for Urban Pediatric Health Research, Childrens’ Research
Center of Michigan and The Carman and Ann Adams Department of Pediatrics
at Children’s Hospital of Michigan.
