Citation

Sumner GS, Mandoki MW, Matthews-Ferrari K. J. Am. Acad. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry 1993; 32(5): 1003-1006.

Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center of Jacksonville 32209.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1993, American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, Publisher Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

8407743

Abstract

The backgrounds and behaviour of 40 prenatally cocaine exposed children referred to the child psychiatry program of an inner-city teaching hospital are explored. The population described is unique to the literature in these ways: (1) Most of the children were not detected as cocaine-exposed at birth, and were disclosed as cocaine-exposed by historical account. (2) Most of the children had lived within drug-dominated home environments for varying lengths of time. Findings indicated that the children receiving intervention early in life, whether detected as cocaine-exposed at birth or by historical account, fared much better socially and emotionally as measured by rate of abuse and severity of psychiatric symptoms. It is concluded that instances of prenatal cocaine exposure should be ascertained at the earliest possible point to intervene in potentially deleterious environmental outcome and associated psychiatric morbidity. Four illustrative cases are presented.

Language: en