Kathryn G Beauchamp1, Jean Lowe2, Ronald M Schrader3, Shikhar Shrestha4, Crystal Aragón2, Natalia Moss5, Julia M Stephen6, Ludmila N Bakhireva7. 1. Substance Use Research and Education (SURE) Center, College of Pharmacy, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA. 2. Department of Pediatrics, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA. 3. RMS Biostatistics Services, Albuquerque, NM 87111, USA. 4. Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Tufts University, Boston, MA 02155, USA. 5. Department of Psychiatry, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90024, USA. 6. Mind Research Network, Albuquerque, NM 87106, USA. 7. Substance Use Research and Education (SURE) Center, College of Pharmacy, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA. Electronic address: lbakhireva@salud.unm.edu.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Infants with prenatal substance exposure are at increased risk for developmental problems, with self-regulatory challenges being some of the most pronounced. The current study aimed to investigate the extent to which prenatal substance exposure (alcohol, opioids) impacts infant self-regulation during a relational stressor and the association between self-regulation and infant affect. METHODS: Participants were 100 mother-child dyads recruited prenatally (Mean = 23.8 gestational weeks) and completed the Still Face Paradigm (SFP) when infants were 5 to 8 months of age (Mean = 6.9 months) as part of an ENRICH prospective birth cohort study. Based on prospective repeated assessment of maternal substance use in pregnancy, infants were grouped into: 1) Unexposed controls; 2) Alcohol-exposed; 3) Opioid-exposed due to maternal use of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) with or without other opioids; 4) MOUD and alcohol. Infant stress reactivity (negative affect) and self-regulation were assessed during the validated 5-episode SFP. Mixed effects linear models were used to analyze differences in the percent of self-regulation and percent of negative affect among the study groups across SFP episodes, as well as the group-by-self-regulation interaction with respect to infant negative affect. RESULTS: The MOUD+Alcohol group demonstrated significantly lower self-regulation at baseline compared to controls (p < 0.05). There was a significant group-by-self-regulation interaction (p = 0.028). Higher self-regulation was associated with lower negative affect across SFP episodes in the MOUD+Alcohol group (p = 0.025) but not other groups. CONCLUSION: Self-regulation skills are particularly important for emotional modulation in infants with prenatal polysubstance exposure, highlighting the development of these skills as a promising intervention target.
BACKGROUND:Infants with prenatal substance exposure are at increased risk for developmental problems, with self-regulatory challenges being some of the most pronounced. The current study aimed to investigate the extent to which prenatal substance exposure (alcohol, opioids) impacts infant self-regulation during a relational stressor and the association between self-regulation and infant affect. METHODS:Participants were 100 mother-child dyads recruited prenatally (Mean = 23.8 gestational weeks) and completed the Still Face Paradigm (SFP) when infants were 5 to 8 months of age (Mean = 6.9 months) as part of an ENRICH prospective birth cohort study. Based on prospective repeated assessment of maternal substance use in pregnancy, infants were grouped into: 1) Unexposed controls; 2) Alcohol-exposed; 3) Opioid-exposed due to maternal use of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) with or without other opioids; 4) MOUD and alcohol. Infant stress reactivity (negative affect) and self-regulation were assessed during the validated 5-episode SFP. Mixed effects linear models were used to analyze differences in the percent of self-regulation and percent of negative affect among the study groups across SFP episodes, as well as the group-by-self-regulation interaction with respect to infant negative affect. RESULTS: The MOUD+Alcohol group demonstrated significantly lower self-regulation at baseline compared to controls (p < 0.05). There was a significant group-by-self-regulation interaction (p = 0.028). Higher self-regulation was associated with lower negative affect across SFP episodes in the MOUD+Alcohol group (p = 0.025) but not other groups. CONCLUSION: Self-regulation skills are particularly important for emotional modulation in infants with prenatal polysubstance exposure, highlighting the development of these skills as a promising intervention target.
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