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. 2010 Nov-Dec;32(6):595-604.
doi: 10.1016/j.ntt.2010.08.007. Epub 2010 Sep 17.

Prenatal cocaine exposure, gender, and adolescent stress response: a prospective longitudinal study

Tara M Chaplin  1 , Matthew B Freiburger, Linda C Mayes, Rajita Sinha
Affiliations

Prenatal cocaine exposure, gender, and adolescent stress response: a prospective longitudinal study

Tara M Chaplin et al. Neurotoxicol Teratol. 2010 Nov-Dec.

Abstract

Prenatal cocaine exposure is associated with alterations in arousal regulation in response to stress in young children. However, relations between cocaine exposure and stress response in adolescence have not been examined. We examined salivary cortisol, self-reported emotion, heart rate, and blood pressure (BP) responses to the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) in 49 prenatally cocaine and other drug exposed (PCE) and 33 non-cocaine-exposed (NCE) adolescents. PCE adolescents had higher cortisol levels before and after stress exposure than NCE adolescents. PCE girls showed an elevated anxiety response to stress (compared to NCE girls) and PCE boys showed a dampened diastolic BP response (compared to NCE boys). Girls showed higher anger response and lower pre-stress systolic BP than boys. Group differences were found controlling for potential confounding variables and were not moderated by caregiver-child relationship quality (although relationship quality predicted HPA axis and anxiety response). The findings suggest that prenatal drug exposure is associated with altered stress response in adolescence and that gender moderates this association.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Statement: The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Salivary Cortisol Response
Average salivary cortisol response over time to stress by cocaine exposure status * Difference between Non Cocaine Exposed and Cocaine Exposed at p < .05.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Self-Reported Anxiety Response
Average anxiety response over time to stress by cocaine exposure status and gender * Difference between NCE girls and PCE girls and NCE boys at p < .05.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Blood Pressure by Group
Average diastolic blood pressure across time by cocaine exposure status and gender * Difference between NCE boys and PCE boys at p < .05.
Figure 4
Figure 4. Blood Pressure Response
Average diastolic blood pressure response over time to stress by cocaine exposure status * Difference between Non Cocaine Exposed and Cocaine Exposed at p < .05.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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