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Emotional and Behavioral Trajectories of 2 to 9 Years Old Children Born to Opioid-Dependent Mothers.

ABSTRACT: Maternal opioid use in pregnancy has increased dramatically. Knowledge about children's longer-term emotional and behavioral development after prenatal opioid exposure is scarce. A regional sample of 89 opioid-exposed and 104 non-exposed comparison children were studied prospectively at ages 2, 4.5, and 9 years using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) completed by primary caregivers. Across all childhood assessments, opioid-exposed children obtained significantly higher total difficulties scores than non-exposed comparison children. Growth curve modeling revealed that, relative to their same age peers, opioid-exposed children's emotional and behavioral difficulties significantly worsened over time. Moreover, fixed effects estimates showed that total difficulties trajectories were poorer for children subject to higher prenatal risk (Est = 1.78, 95% CI = [0.46, 3.09]) who were born to mothers with high levels of social adversity (1.11 [0.51, 1.71]), and were then raised in families characterized by high levels of psychosocial risk (1.94 [0.90, 2.98]) and unstable caregiving (1.91 [0.33, 3.48]). A complex set of pre- and postnatal processes contribute to opioid-exposed children's emotional and behavioral development. Efforts to mitigate the long-term consequences of opioid use in pregnancy need to consider both children's and their caregivers' biopsychosocial risks.

SUBMITTER: Jaekel J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7943531 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Emotional and Behavioral Trajectories of 2 to 9 Years Old Children Born to Opioid-Dependent Mothers.

Jaekel Julia J Kim Hyun M HM Lee Samantha J SJ Schwartz Ashlyn A Henderson Jacqueline M T JMT Woodward Lianne J LJ

Research on child and adolescent psychopathology 20210112 4

Maternal opioid use in pregnancy has increased dramatically. Knowledge about children's longer-term emotional and behavioral development after prenatal opioid exposure is scarce. A regional sample of 89 opioid-exposed and 104 non-exposed comparison children were studied prospectively at ages 2, 4.5, and 9 years using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) completed by primary caregivers. Across all childhood assessments, opioid-exposed children obtained significantly higher total dif ...[more]

PMID: 33433780

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Dataset Information

Emotional and Behavioral Trajectories of 2 to 9 Years Old Children Born to Opioid-Dependent Mothers.

Publications

Emotional and Behavioral Trajectories of 2 to 9 Years Old Children Born to Opioid-Dependent Mothers.

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