ABSTRACT
In response to the identification of fetal alcohol syndrome in the early 1970s and the “cocaine baby” crisis of the late 1980s, a large body of research has focused on the development of young children born to women who use alcohol and drugs during pregnancy (e.g., Chandler & Lane, 1996; Hutchings, 1989; Lester, 1994; Lewis & Bendersky, 1995). For the most part, this research has explored the possible teratogenic effects of prenatal exposure to drugs or alcohol on children’s physical health and neurobehavioral development, often with an emphasis on isolating the effects of a particular drug. Assessment of postnatal environmental variables that might affect development of prenatally exposed children has become standard procedure in behavioral teratology research (Jacobson & Jacobson, 1990), but in most research designs, environmental variables have been treated primarily as potential confounding factors rather than as a primary focus for investigation and understanding.
