Prenatal Drinking Dangerous
SEATTLE (Ivanhoe Newswire) April 16, 2003 -- A new study shows drinking during pregnancy can triple a child's chances of developing alcohol-related problems in early adulthood.
Researchers from the University of Washington tracked the progress of 433 women and their children since the mid-1970s. The women who participated in the study reported drinking alcohol during their pregnancies, and 31 percent of these women say they drank heavily.
Twenty-two years later, researchers interviewed the mothers and their now-adult offspring. Results show 83 percent of the participants who were exposed to prenatal drinking are current drinkers, while 17 percent say they do not drink at all.
Results of the study also show 14 percent of the young adults who were exposed to heavy prenatal drinking, meaning one or more episodes of five or more drinks, have had alcohol-related problems, compared to just 4.5 percent who were not as heavily exposed.
"This is not a one-to-one relationship, but a mother's drinking elevates the risk of her offspring having alcohol problems," says John Baer, Ph.D., of the University of Washington.
Researchers considered other factors, which could have contributed to drinking problems, such as nicotine exposure, gender and family history, but the relationship between prenatal drinking and adult alcoholism still existed.
Researchers plan to continue to follow the families to determine if fetal alcohol exposure leads to more severe alcohol problems in the later stage of adulthood.
SOURCE: Archives of General Psychiatry, 2003;60:377-384
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