ArticleNeurotoxicology and teratology
Cognitive and functional outcomes at age 21 after prenatal cocaine/polydrug exposure and foster/adoptive care.
Article in Neurotoxicology and teratology. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 12 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Fatty acid ethyl esters in meconium and language development at 10 and 12 years.Pediatric research · 2026Article
- Change in maternal harshness and home environment across early childhood as predictors of autonomic regulation in adolescence in the context of prenatal substance exposure.Child development · 2026Article
- Maternal Childhood Trauma and Children's Developmental Course of Aggressive Behavior from Ages 4 to 12.Psychology of violence · 2025Article
- Internal assets in low-income urban adolescents from 12 to 17 years: Gender variation.Journal of research on adolescence : the official journal of the Society for Research on Adolescence · 2025Article
- Infant Behaviors, Prenatal Cocaine Exposure, and Adult Intelligence.JAMA network open · 2024Article
- Prenatal cocaine exposure and self-reported behavioral adjustments from ages 12 to 21: environmental pathways.Psychological medicine · 2024Article
- Pathways from prenatal cocaine exposure to adult substance use and behavior.Neurotoxicology and teratologyArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectivePrenatal 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.
methodsAt 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. In the PCE group, 32 remained in non-kinship foster/adoptive care (PCE/FA) from early in life (< 4 years) to 17 years. Group differences were examined through t-tests, MANOVA/ MANCOVA with post-hoc analyses, comparing outcomes and environmental correlates of young adults with PCE vs. NCE, as well as outcomes of PCE young adults in non-kinship foster/adoptive care (PCE/ FA) vs. PCE in birth/kinship care and NCE young adults.
resultsAt 21 years, young adults with PCE had lower mean Full Scale (83.7 ± 10.4 vs. 87.3 ± 12.5, p < .01) and Perceptual Reasoning IQs (87.3 ± 11.5 vs. 91.4 ± 13.9, (p < .02), lower high school completion rates (75% vs. 86%, p < .02), and were marginally more likely to have been on probation than NCE young adults, but did not differ in Verbal IQ, self-report of problematic substance use or incarceration. Young adults with PCE in F/A had similar lower IQ scores but had better verbal skills and high school graduation rates that did not differ from NCE young adults (80.6 vs 86.2%, p > .05). They had higher drug exposure at birth and more experiences of maltreatment (p's < 0.05) but their home environment quality was better and lead levels lower (p's < 0.05) than those of young adults with PCE in birth/kinship care.
conclusionsYoung adults with PCE had lower Perceptual Reasoning and Full-Scale IQ scores, independent of caregiving placement, compared to non-exposed young adults. Young adults with PCE placed in non-kinship foster/adoptive care had lower lead levels, more stimulating home environments, better vocabulary skills and were more likely to graduate from high school than those in birth/kinship care,but were not different in their self-report of problematic substance use, or experiences of incarceration or probation. Our data suggest that some cognitive deficits observed in young adults with PCE may be biologically based, but that some functional outcomes can be modified through environmental interventions. Our data also reflect the complexity of disentangling the effects of teratologic exposures on long term outcomes across a variety of domains and the need for studies of children in the foster care system.
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