Kim Hyun Min, Bone Reisha M, McNeill Brigid, Lee Samantha J, Gillon Gail, Woodward Lianne J
School of Health Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch 8041, New Zealand.
Child Well-Being Research Institute, University of Canterbury, Christchurch 8041, New Zealand.
Children (Basel). 2021 Mar 31;8(4):268. doi: 10.3390/children8040268.
Increasing evidence suggests that prenatal exposure to opioids may affect brain development, but limited data exist on the effects of opioid-exposure on preschool language development. Our study aimed to characterize the nature and prevalence of language problems in children prenatally exposed to opioids, and the factors that support or hinder language acquisition. A sample of 100 children born to pregnant women in methadone maintenance treatment and 110 randomly identified non-exposed children were studied from birth to age 4.5 years. At 4.5 years, 89 opioid-exposed and 103 non-exposed children completed the preschool version of the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals (CELF-P) as part of a comprehensive neurodevelopmental assessment. Children prenatally exposed to opioids had poorer receptive and expressive language outcomes at age 4.5 years compared to non-opioid exposed children. After adjustment for child sex, maternal education, other pregnancy substance use, maternal pregnancy nutrition and prenatal depression, opioid exposure remained a significant independent predictor of children's total CELF-P language score. Examination of a range of potential intervening factors showed that a composite measure of the quality of parenting and home environment at age 18 months and early childhood education participation at 4.5 years were important positive mediators.
越来越多的证据表明，产前接触阿片类药物可能会影响大脑发育，但关于阿片类药物接触对学龄前儿童语言发育影响的数据有限。我们的研究旨在描述产前接触阿片类药物儿童语言问题的性质和发生率，以及支持或阻碍语言习得的因素。对100名母亲接受美沙酮维持治疗的儿童和110名随机确定的未接触阿片类药物的儿童进行了从出生到4.5岁的研究。在4.5岁时，89名接触阿片类药物的儿童和103名未接触阿片类药物的儿童完成了作为全面神经发育评估一部分的学龄前版语言基本能力临床评估（CELF-P）。与未接触阿片类药物的儿童相比，产前接触阿片类药物的儿童在4.5岁时的接受性和表达性语言结果较差。在对儿童性别、母亲教育程度、其他孕期物质使用、母亲孕期营养和产前抑郁进行调整后，阿片类药物接触仍然是儿童CELF-P语言总分的一个显著独立预测因素。对一系列潜在干预因素的研究表明，18个月时养育方式和家庭环境质量的综合指标以及4.5岁时参与幼儿教育是重要的积极调节因素。
