Prenatal cocaine exposure and children's language functioning at 6 and 9.5 years: moderating effects of child age, birthweight, and gender

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether prenatal cocaine exposure (PCE), or the interaction between PCE and contextual variables, is associated with children's language at age 6 and 9.5 years, adjusting for relevant covariates. METHODS: Analyses were based on 160 low-income, urban children from a prospective study who completed a standardized language assessment at 6 and 9.5 years. PCE was determined using neonatal meconium assays and maternal self-report. RESULTS: Significant interaction effects of PCE on language outcomes were found in multivariate longitudinal analyses using generalized estimating equations (GEE). Children with PCE had lower receptive language than unexposed children at 6 but not at 9.5 years, lower expressive language if they had lower birthweight, and lower expressive and total language if they were female. Other risk (e.g., violence exposure) and protective factors (e.g., preschool experience) were related to language outcomes regardless of PCE status. CONCLUSIONS: Age, birthweight, and gender moderated the relation between PCE and school-aged children's language.