PEDIATRICS Vol. 78 No. 3 September 1986, pp. 444-450
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Alcohol Use in Primiparous Women Older Than 30 Years of Age: Relation to Infant Development

Mary J. O'Connor PhD1, Nancy J. Brill MD1, and Marian Sigman PhD1

1 From the Division of Child Psychiatry/Mental Retardation, Department of Psychiatry, University of California at Los Angeles

The effects of maternal alcohol use on mental development, growth, and dysmorphogenesis was studied in a sample of 1-year-old infants born to elderly primiparous mothers. Alcohol intake was measured using Jessor's AA score and a simple count of maximum number of drinks consumed in one day. Infant cognition was assessed using the Bayley Scale of Mental Development. Alcohol levels prior to, during, and following pregnancy were obtained. Alcohol intake was greatly reduced during pregnancy, returning to prepregnancy levels following birth. A significant linear relationship between drinking prior to pregnancy and infant mental development was found. The average mental development score of infants whose mothers consumed le3, 3.3 to 29.7, or ge30 mL (le0.10, 0.11 to 0.99, or ge1.0 average fluid ounces) of absolute alcohol per day was 115, 108, and 95, respectively. Maximum number of drinks consumed in a day related to physical anomalies. No alcohol measure was significantly correlated with condition at birth, postnatal illness, or growth parameters of height, weight, and head circumference at 1 year. Deficits found were less pronounced than those reported in infants with fetal alcohol syndrome.

Key Words: alcohol consumption • older primiparous women • infant development • maternal age

Accepted on January 8, 1986




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