This is a proposal for a secondary data analysis in response to a Program Announcement: PA-01-140. The Maternal Health Practices and Child Development Project provides a unique opportunity to assess the growth and development of children who were prenatally exposed to alcohol. The women in this project were interviewed during their fourth and seventh prenatal months. Women and their offspring were assessed at the child's birth, 8 and 18 months, 3, 6, 10, 14, and 16 years of age. The cohort was selected from a prenatal clinic and is half Caucasian and half African-American. The women in this cohort represent the entire spectrum of alcohol use during pregnancy. At each phase, we measured demographic status, the psychological, social, and household environment, maternal and paternal substance use, and the substance use of the male partner in the household. We assessed the children's cognitive, behavioral, academic, and physical status. At ages 10, 14, and 16, we have additional measures of pubertal maturity, neuropsychological status, cognitive and behavioral development, affect, academic performance, psychiatric status, delinquent behaviors, substance use, and the substance use of their friends. The 16-year assessment was not funded for the analysis of the alcohol data. ? ? In the proposed analyses, we will identify the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure at age 16. In addition, we will integrate this assessment with the prior phases, and assess the growth and development of these children across the multiple time points of the study. At 16 years, we will evaluate the development of alcohol and other substance use disorders, psychiatric disorders, delinquency, behavior, and social and academic problems. We will assess the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure on these outcomes. None of the current research on the onset or course of adolescent substance use and abuse has incorporated the identification of the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure, nor has the fetal alcohol literature considered the onset and course of substance use. This proposal will integrate these areas of research. ? ?
