Mothers' prenatal cocaine use linked to behavior problems in boys.

2004 SEP 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Boys exposed to persistent levels of cocaine in the womb are more likely to have behavioral problems like hyperactivity in their early school years, new research suggests.

But girls who had prenatal exposure to similar amounts of cocaine were not more likely to suffer from the same problems, Virginia Delaney-Black, MD, of Children's Hospital of Michigan, and colleagues found. The study results were published in the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics.

While no specific cause of the gender-specific findings was identified, the researchers note that the study confirms animal studies that also suggest gender plays a role in the effects of cocaine exposure.

Delaney-Black and colleagues say human studies have been inconsistent on the question of whether prenatal cocaine exposure has gender-specific effects on children's development.

Their study looked at 473 6- to 7-year-old children in the Detroit, Michigan area whose mothers had received prenatal care and drug testing. About 200 of the children in the study were prenatally exposed to cocaine. Children ...