Neuropsychological Comparison of Alcohol-Exposed Children With or Without Physical Features of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is associated with behavioral and cognitive deficits. However, the majority of children born to alcohol-abusing women do not meet the formal criteria for FAS and it is not known if the cognitive abilities of these children differ from those of children with FAS. Using a...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Neuropsychology 1998-01, Vol.12 (1), p.146-153
Main Authors: Mattson, Sarah N, Riley, Edward P, Gramling, Laura, Delis, Dean C, Jones, Kenneth Lyons
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Biological and medical sciences
Central Nervous System Depressants - adverse effects
Child
Child clinical studies
Child, Preschool
Cognitive Ability
Cognitive Development
Ethanol - adverse effects
Female
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders - psychology
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Human
Humans
Intelligence Tests
Male
Medical sciences
Neuropsychological Tests
Neuropsychology
Organic mental disorders. Neuropsychology
Physical Appearance
Pregnancy
Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Social Class
Verbal Learning - physiology
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is associated with behavioral and cognitive deficits. However, the majority of children born to alcohol-abusing women do not meet the formal criteria for FAS and it is not known if the cognitive abilities of these children differ from those of children with FAS. Using a set of neuropsychological tests, 3 groups were compared: (a) children with FAS, (b) children without FAS who were born to alcohol-abusing women (the PEA group), and (c) normal controls. The results indicated that, relative to controls, both the FAS and the PEA groups were impaired on tests of language, verbal learning and memory, academic skills, fine-motor speed, and visual-motor integration. These data suggest that heavy prenatal alcohol exposure is related to a consistent pattern of neuropsychological deficits and the degree of these deficits may be independent of the presence of physical features associated with FAS.
ISSN:0894-4105
1931-1559
DOI:10.1037/0894-4105.12.1.146