Natalia Karpova1, Dake Zhang2, Anna Malia Beckwith3, David S Bennett4, Michael Lewis5. 1. Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Institute for the Study of Child Development, Department of Pediatrics, 89 French Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, United States. Electronic address: karpovan@sjhmc.org. 2. Rutgers the State University of New Jersey, Department of Educational Psychology, 10 Seminary Place, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, United States. Electronic address: dake.zhang@gse.rutgers.edu. 3. Children's Specialized Hospital, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Department of Pediatrics, 150 New Providence Rd, Mountainside, NJ 07092, United States. Electronic address: ABeckwith@childrens-specialized.org. 4. Drexel University, GLAD Program, 4700 Wissahickon Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19144, United States. Electronic address: David.Bennett@Drexelmed.edu. 5. Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Institute for the Study of Child Development, 89 French Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, United States. Electronic address: Lewis@rwjms.rutgers.edu.
Abstract
PURPOSE: Study of the relationship between prenatal cocaine exposure (PCE) and executive function (EF) has yielded inconsistent results. The purpose of the current study is to examine whether PCE, biological sex, environmental risk, and their interaction predicted EF in early adolescence. METHODS: 135 12-year-old adolescents (40.7% with PCE), who were followed prospectively from birth, attempted up to 8 Tower of Hanoi (ToH) puzzle trials of increasing complexity. The number of correctly completed puzzles served as the main outcome measure. Survival analysis was used to examine predictors of the number of successfully completed trials. RESULTS: As trial difficulty increased, fewer adolescents were able to solve the TOH puzzle. Adolescents from high risk environments and with either prenatal alcohol or prenatal cannabis exposure completed fewer puzzles (p < .05). In addition, a hypothesized 3-way interaction of PCE x sex x environmental risk was found such that cocaine-exposed males with high environmental risk had the worst performance (p < .01). CONCLUSIONS: The current findings are consistent with prior research indicating that males with PCE may be at particular risk of poorer functioning and highlight the potential importance of examining adolescent's sex and environmental risk as moderators of PCE effects.
PURPOSE: Study of the relationship between prenatal cocaine exposure (PCE) and executive function (EF) has yielded inconsistent results. The purpose of the current study is to examine whether PCE, biological sex, environmental risk, and their interaction predicted EF in early adolescence. METHODS: 135 12-year-old adolescents (40.7% with PCE), who were followed prospectively from birth, attempted up to 8 Tower of Hanoi (ToH) puzzle trials of increasing complexity. The number of correctly completed puzzles served as the main outcome measure. Survival analysis was used to examine predictors of the number of successfully completed trials. RESULTS: As trial difficulty increased, fewer adolescents were able to solve the TOH puzzle. Adolescents from high risk environments and with either prenatal alcohol or prenatal cannabis exposure completed fewer puzzles (p < .05). In addition, a hypothesized 3-way interaction of PCE x sex x environmental risk was found such that cocaine-exposed males with high environmental risk had the worst performance (p < .01). CONCLUSIONS: The current findings are consistent with prior research indicating that males with PCE may be at particular risk of poorer functioning and highlight the potential importance of examining adolescent's sex and environmental risk as moderators of PCE effects.
Authors: Gale A Richardson; Christopher Ryan; Jennifer Willford; Nancy L Day; Lidush Goldschmidt Journal: Neurotoxicol Teratol Date: 2002 May-Jun Impact factor: 3.763