Effects of Alcohol and Other Drugs on Children

Abstract

Children are affected by alcohol and other drug use along three primary paths: in utero through the mother's use, environmentally through both family and community influences, and through their own use. Children who are prenatally exposed are put at risk both through physiological insults and through caregiving deficits in their immediate family. The number of cases of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) in the western world has been estimated at 0.33 cases per 1,000 live births; 200 babies are born with FAS per year in California. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) estimates that 7.62 million babies (18.6%) were exposed to alcohol during gestation. Current prevalence estimates show about 28.6 million children of alcoholics in the United States, while in California it is estimated that about 17.6% of children lived with a parent who used illegal substances during the past year. Although all the prenatal effects of alcohol are not known, it is clear that there is no safe amount of alcohol to be consumed during pregnancy. There is little consensus, however, on long-term effects from in utero exposure alone because of the influence of adverse environmental factors; prenatal exposure is usually not the final influence, but is reinforced by years of neglect, deprivation, negative behavioral models, and other adverse conditions. And although society places most emphasis upon the negative effects of illicit substances, use of alcohol is strongly associated with crime and family violence. The consequences of use of alcohol and tobacco are more costly to society in terms of health care, accidents, days of work lost, and other social costs.