Abstract
This study examined the association between prenatal exposure to cocaine and physiological regulation across the first 7 months of age. Measures of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) were obtained from 169 (82 cocaine-exposed and 87 nonexposed) infants during baseline periods at 1 month and 7 months of age and during tasks designed to elicit positive and negative affect at 7 months of age. After controlling for maternal age, gestational age, and obstetrical risk, structural equation modeling indicated that the association between prenatal exposure to cocaine and baseline RSA at 7 months of age was direct even in the presence of an indirect effect through baseline RSA at 1 month of age. There were no indirect effects through maternal affect during mother–infant interactions assessed at 1 month of age. Analyses also indicated a direct association between prenatal exposure to cocaine and RSA regulation to negative affect at 7 months of age.
Notes
a n = 86.
b n =83.
+ p < .10.
*p < .05.
**p < .01.
+ p < .10.
*p < .05.
**p < .01.
***p < .001.
2Analyses were also run after removing eight families who were too young at the time of the 1-month assessment after correcting for prematurity (n = 161), again after removing those missing 1-month data (n = 138), and again after removing the 5 infants that experienced a child care change between the 1- and 7-month laboratory visits. There were no differences in path structure or significance in these models from the model reported in the text.