A fetal alcohol behavior scale.

This research aimed to develop a Fetal Alcohol Behavior Scale (FABS) that describes the behavioral essence of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) and fetal alcohol effects (FAE), regardless of age, race, sex, and IQ. Using a reference sample of 472 diagnosed patients with FAS or FAE, ages 2 to 51, five studies are described. The FABS demonstrates high item-to-scale reliability (Cronbach's alpha = 0.91) and good test-retest reliability (r = 0.69) over an average interval of 5 years. It identifies many of the subjects with known or presumed prenatal alcohol exposure in detection studies using both prison and general samples. FABS scores also predict dependent living among adult patients with FAS/FAE. The FABS is uncorrelated with IQ, sex, age, race, and diagnosis (FAS versus FAE). We outline areas of further work to define the specificity and utility of this FABS.