The Development of Preschool Children of Heroin-Addicted Mothers: A Controlled Study

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Abstract
Disturbances of growth and behavior in infants and toddlers of women addicted to heroin during pregnancy were reported in uncontrolled studies. Children 3- to 6-year-old of heroin-addicted mothers were compared to 3 other groups matched for age, race, sex, birth weight and socioeconomic status. Heroin-exposed children weighed less and were shorter than those in the comparison groups; 14% had a head circumference below the 3rd percentile. Heroin-exposed children were rated by parents as less well adjusted than control children and they differed significantly in perceptual measures and on subtests of the Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities and McCarthy Scales of Children''s Abilities relating to the process of organization. Chronic intrauterine exposure to heroin may affect growth and behavior as well as perceptual and learning processes in preschool children.

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