Abstract

To explore and analyze the significance of proximal influences of maternal and paternal traits associated with bearing a child with a fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD).Aggregated, maternal interview-collected data (N?=?2515) concerning alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use were examined to determine risk for FASD from seven cross-sectional samples of mothers of first-grade students who were evaluated for a possible diagnosis of FASD.Mothers of children with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) reported the highest alcohol use throughout pregnancy, proportion of binge drinking, drinks per drinking day (DDD), drinking days per week, and total drinks per week. Mothers of children with FAS also consumed significantly more alcohol than mothers of children with partial FAS (PFAS), alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder (ARND), or typically developing controls. Mothers of children with PFAS and ARND reported similar drinking patterns, which exposed fetuses to 3-4 times more alcohol than mothers of controls, but the PFAS group was more likely than the ARND group to abstain in latter trimesters. Fathers of all children were predominantly drinkers (70%-85%), but more fathers of children with FASD binged heavily on more days than fathers of controls. Compared to the few mothers of controls who used alcohol during pregnancy, the ARND group binge drank more (3+ DDD) throughout pregnancy and drank more DDD before pregnancy and first trimester. Regression analysis, controlling for tobacco use, indicated that mothers who reported drinking <1 DDD were significantly more likely than abstainers to bear a child with FASD (OR?=?2.75) as were those reporting higher levels such as 5-5.9 DDD (OR?=?32.99). Exclusive, first-trimester maternal drinking increased risk for FASD five times over that of abstinence (p?

View details for DOI 10.1111/acer.15193

View details for PubMedID 38226752

View details for PubMedCentralID PMC10792253