Substance use and mental health symptoms in adults with prenatal alcohol exposure

IF 2.6 3区医学 Q3 NEUROSCIENCES

Neurotoxicology and teratology Pub Date : 2025-03-01 DOI:10.1016/j.ntt.2025.107436

Kallio Hunnicutt-Ferguson , Susan A. Stoner , Julie A. Kable , Therese M. Grant , Claire D. Coles

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

Substance use and mental health problems have been documented in individuals with prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) in young adulthood, but little is known about how these patterns progress over time into midlife. The current study examined rates of substance use in a sample of adults with PAE in mid-life compared to a demographically similar contrast group.

Methods

Participants (n = 233) were drawn from two longitudinal cohorts of individuals recruited prenatally and followed into adulthood. Measures of cognition, substance use, and self-reported mental health functioning were obtained.

Results

Differences among groups (PAE no dysmorphology, PAE with dysmorphology, No PAE contrast group) were examined on demographic variables of interest and substance use outcomes. Both PAE groups experienced higher levels of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) compared to the contrast group. We also observed higher rates of current tobacco use in those with PAE; those with PAE and no dysmorphology had almost twice the rate of current tobacco use as the nonexposed contrast group. We observed similar rates of high risk drinking on the Alcohol Use Identification Test (AUDIT) in all groups. Individuals with PAE also showed high rates of cannabis use compared to national averages. Generalized linear regressions examining predictive effects of PAE on substance use outcomes did not show significant results, though female sex at birth was predictive of current cannabis use. Current alcohol use predicted depression and PTSD symptoms, and significant interactions were observed between PAE group and ACEs on depression, PTSD, anxiety, and psychotic symptoms.

Conclusion

This is one of the only studies to examine rates of alcohol and other substance use among adults in mid-life with PAE. Results suggest that relationships between PAE, substance use, and mental health symptoms are complex, and it will be important for future studies to examine factors associated with high-risk substance use among this vulnerable population.

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来源期刊

Neurotoxicology and teratology 医学-毒理学

CiteScore

5.60

自引率

10.30%

发文量

审稿时长

58 days

期刊介绍： Neurotoxicology and Teratology provides a forum for publishing new information regarding the effects of chemical and physical agents on the developing, adult or aging nervous system. In this context, the fields of neurotoxicology and teratology include studies of agent-induced alterations of nervous system function, with a focus on behavioral outcomes and their underlying physiological and neurochemical mechanisms. The Journal publishes original, peer-reviewed Research Reports of experimental, clinical, and epidemiological studies that address the neurotoxicity and/or functional teratology of pesticides, solvents, heavy metals, nanomaterials, organometals, industrial compounds, mixtures, drugs of abuse, pharmaceuticals, animal and plant toxins, atmospheric reaction products, and physical agents such as radiation and noise. These reports include traditional mammalian neurotoxicology experiments, human studies, studies using non-mammalian animal models, and mechanistic studies in vivo or in vitro. Special Issues, Reviews, Commentaries, Meeting Reports, and Symposium Papers provide timely updates on areas that have reached a critical point of synthesis, on aspects of a scientific field undergoing rapid change, or on areas that present special methodological or interpretive problems. Theoretical Articles address concepts and potential mechanisms underlying actions of agents of interest in the nervous system. The Journal also publishes Brief Communications that concisely describe a new method, technique, apparatus, or experimental result.