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Assessment and Treatment of Prenatally Exposed Infants and Children

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Pediatric Neuropsychiatry

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Abstract

The majority of substance-exposed infants endure the aftereffects from in utero exposure to multiple potentially harmful agents. In addition, parental substance use and prenatal substance exposure very often co-occur with other psychosocial stressors. Thus, it can be difficult for the practitioner to tease apart the direct neurological effects of prenatal substance exposure from those caused by other related factors such as prematurity, low birth weight, continued parental substance use, chronic psychosocial stress, inconsistent caregiving, low socioeconomic status, trauma, and neglect. Therefore, it is necessary for the practitioner to have a solid understanding of the neurobehavioral effects of the substance(s) to which a patient has been exposed, as well as the impact of psychosocial stressors in the family’s life. This chapter presents two case studies which highlight the complex neuropsychiatric interaction of prenatal exposure and environmental stress in the assessment and treatment of prenatally exposed infants and children.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Yale University School of Medicine, Yale Child Study Center, New Haven, CT, USA

    Amanda Lowell & Linda Mayes

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  1. Amanda Lowell
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  2. Linda Mayes
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Correspondence to Linda Mayes .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    Aaron J. Hauptman

  2. Neuropsychiatry in Epilepsy Program, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Jay A. Salpekar

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Lowell, A., Mayes, L. (2019). Assessment and Treatment of Prenatally Exposed Infants and Children. In: Hauptman, A., Salpekar, J. (eds) Pediatric Neuropsychiatry. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94998-7_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94998-7_13

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