Alcohol has been shown to be a significant behavioral teratogen affecting approximately 1 in 100 children born in the United States annually. Both neurocognitive and social skills deficits have been documented in children with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) and alcohol related neurodevelopmental disorder (ARND). The proposed research will be integrated into a newly funded study investigating the effects of a social skills intervention for children 6-8 years of age diagnosed with FAS and ARND. Children will be randomly assigned in 7 cohorts of 16 participants each to one of two conditions: Parent-Assisted Social Skills Training (SST, n=56) or Wait List (WL, n=56). For each cohort there will be 8 children in each condition. Each cohort takes part in a 12-week social skills intervention. The current proposal expands on this study by investigating the relationship between neurocognitive status and social skills in this population. This will be achieved by utilizing a neuropsychological test battery at baseline, consisting of measures shown to be sensitive to prenatal alcohol exposure and related to social skills deficits in other neurologically impaired populations. It is hypothesized that neurocognitive status will be significantly related to social skills competence at baseline and that are currently reported for these children nor any study on the relation between neurocognitive and social skills integrity, this study is one of the first of its kind.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
Type
Postdoctoral Individual National Research Service Award (F32)
Project #
5F32AA013775-02
Application #
6659080
Study Section
Health Services Research Review Subcommittee (AA)
Program Officer
Silverman, Peter
Project Start
2002-09-13
Project End
2005-09-12
Budget Start
2003-09-13
Budget End
2004-09-12
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2003
Total Cost
$41,608
Indirect Cost
Name
University of California Los Angeles
Department
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
092530369
City
Los Angeles
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
90095
Schonfeld, Amy M; Paley, Blair; Frankel, Fred et al. (2009) Behavioral regulation as a predictor of response to Children's Friendship Training in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. Clin Neuropsychol 23:428-45
Schonfeld, Amy M; Paley, Blair; Frankel, Fred et al. (2006) Executive functioning predicts social skills following prenatal alcohol exposure. Child Neuropsychol 12:439-52