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7: Substance Abuse: A Preventable Threat to Development
Study Questions
- When a pregnant woman uses several legal and illegal psychoactive substances, the actual effect on the fetus of each individual substance is difficult to determine. What are some other confounding factors related to substance abuse during pregnancy?
- Approximately how many pregnant women smoke cigarettes? How many use cocaine?
- What percentage of infants born to mothers who abuse substances experience withdrawal during the first days or weeks of life?
- According to authorities on addiction medicine, how much alcohol is safe for a woman to consume during pregnancy? How should alcoholic beverages be labeled in order to deter pregnant women from drinking?
- What is the mesolimbic dopamine system in the brain, and how is it affected by substance abuse?
- What is a teratogenic chemical? If a pregnant woman uses or is addicted to a teratogenic substance, how might this adversely affect the development of her child?
- Explain why alcoholism and substance abuse are considered to be a disease by the medical community. How do the characteristics associated with dependency parallel those traits related to other long-term illnesses?
- List and discuss the four criteria used to define fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). How can one identify a child with FAS? Compare and contrast the impairments associated with FAS and those associated with alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder (ARND).
- What is the most significant factor affecting children raised in homes with parents who are addicted to alcohol or other drugs? Describe some behavioral characteristics exhibited in parents who abuse substances and how this might affect other individuals living in the home of a drug addict or alcoholic. How might this affect an infant? An elementary-age child? A teenager?
- Briefly compare and contrast the long-term effects associated with the use of alcohol, opiates, cocaine, nicotine, and marijuana. Which have the most risks and the most negative long-term effects?
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