“Meth” babies more at risk of behavioral problems: Study

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDMar 20 2012

A new study shows methamphetamine's potential lasting behavioral effects on kids of mothers who used meth during pregnancy. The behavior differences — anxiety, depression, moodiness — weren't huge, but lead researcher Linda LaGasse called them “very worrisome.”

Methamphetamine is a stimulant drug of abuse like cocaine, and earlier research showed meth babies have similarities to so-called “crack babies” or babies of mothers who took cocaine. Both kinds of babies are smaller in size and prone to drowsiness and stress. Results in long-term studies conflict on whether children of cocaine-using mothers have lasting behavior problems. Whether problems persist in young children of meth users is unknown. Methamphetamine also called speed, meth, crystal meth, ice, crystal, or glass - is a white, odorless, powder that can be swallowed, snorted, smoked, or injected. It's one of the most commonly abuse drugs in the U.S., with 1.2 million Americans age 12 or older saying in 2009 that they had abused meth at least once in the previous year. Government data suggest that fewer than 1 percent of pregnant women are users.

But LaGasse, who does research at Brown University's Center of the Study of Children at Risk, said methamphetamine has stronger effects on the brain so it may be more likely to cause lasting effects in children. The study was published online Monday in Pediatrics. The National Institutes of Health paid for the research, including a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Joseph Frascella, who heads a behavioral division at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said the research is among “groundbreaking” studies examining effects of substance abuse during pregnancy. But because the study is a first, the results should be viewed cautiously and need to be repeated, he said.

LaGasse and team tracked 330 children from age 3 through 5 in the Midwest and West, areas where meth use is most common. Mothers were recruited shortly after giving birth in Des Moines, Iowa; Honolulu, Los Angeles, and Tulsa, Okla. They were asked about prenatal meth use and newborns' stools were tested for evidence of the drug. Effects in children exposed to the drug were compared with those whose mothers didn't use meth. Both groups were high-risk children, with many living in disadvantaged homes. Mothers or other caregivers completed a widely used checklist asking how often kids showed many kinds of troublesome behavior.

Results showed that at the age of 3 anxiety, depression and moodiness were slightly higher in meth-users' children. These differences persisted at age 5. The older children who'd been exposed to meth also had more aggression and attention problems similar to ADHD, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Mothers were asked about symptoms, but not if their kids had ever been diagnosed with behavior disorders.

“The ability to identify specific behavioral syndromes in children as early as preschool age could lead to the development of preventive intervention programs,” authors wrote, adding that early intervention “may prevent escalation into delinquency and psychopathology.”

Heavy use of methamphetamine - defined as use at least three days a week during pregnancy - was associated with attention problems and withdrawn behavior at both ages. Prenatal methamphetamine exposure was not, however, associated with internalizing behavior or total behavioral problems.

The findings on externalizing behaviors in the current study are consistent with studies of prenatal cocaine exposure, despite differences in study populations. The cocaine studies were mostly conducted with inner-city, black, low-income, poorly educated mothers, while the this latest study was conducted with mostly non-black, working class, and educated mothers from rural areas.

“Despite adjustment for demographic factors, the population differences suggest that these effects on behavior problems are quite robust and may have substantial public health implications, because problems as noted on the Child Behavior Checklist tend to persist over time and predict later psychopathology and criminal behavior that place tremendous burdens on society,” the authors wrote.

But U.S. meth use may be on the way down: A study from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration last fall found user rates have plummeted by nearly half, from 731,000 users in 2006 to 353,000 in 2010.

Authors acknowledged that the findings might not be generalizable to all women who use methamphetamine during pregnancy and that the study may be limited by recall bias regarding the use of methamphetamine during pregnancy and by reporting bias regarding children's behavior.