Impact of prenatal cocaine exposure on attention and response inhibition as assessed by continuous performance tests.


J Dev Behav Pediatr. 2007 Jun;28(3):195-205.

Accornero VH, Amado AJ, Morrow CE, Xue L, Anthony JC, Bandstra ES.

Department of Pediatrics, Perinatal CARE Program, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL 33101, USA. vaccornero@med.miami.edu

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the influence of prenatal cocaine exposure on attention and response inhibition measured by continuous performance tests (CPTs) at ages 5 and 7 years.

METHODS: The baseline sample consisted of 253 cocaine-exposed and 223 non-cocaine-exposed children enrolled prospectively at birth and assessed comprehensively through age 7 years in the longitudinal Miami Prenatal Cocaine Study. This report includes a subsample of 415 children (219 cocaine-exposed, 196 non-cocaine-exposed) who completed at least one CPT assessment at ages 5 and/or 7 years. Prenatal cocaine exposure was measured by maternal self-report and maternal and infant bioassays. Deficits in attention and response inhibition are estimated in relation to prenatal cocaine exposure using generalized estimating equations within the general linear model.

RESULTS: Results indicate cocaine-associated increases in omission errors at ages 5 and 7 as well as increases in response times for target tasks (i.e., slower reaction times) and decreased consistency in performance at age 7. There were no demonstrable cocaine-associated deficits in commission errors. Estimates did not change markedly with statistical adjustment for selected prenatal and postnatal covariates.

CONCLUSION: Evidence supports cocaine-associated deficits in attention processing through age 7 years.

PMID: 17565286 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]