Effects of Drugs Exposure to Children during the Prenatal Period
Effects of Cocaine, tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs Exposure to Children during the Prenatal Period
Citation of Literature
Dennis, T., Bendersky, M., Ramsay, D., Lewis, M., & Lewis, M. (2006). Reactivity and Regulation in Children. Developmental Psychology, 42(4), 688-697.
Espy, K. A., Fang, H., Johnson, C., Stopp, C., Wiebe, S. A., & Respass, J. (2011). Prenatal tobacco exposure: Developmental outcomes in the neonatal period. Developmental Psychology, 47(1), 153-169.
Watson, S. M., Westby, C. E., & Gable, R. A. (2007). A Framework for Addressing the Needs of Students Prenatally Exposed to Alcohol and. Preventing School Failure, 52(1), 25-32.
Authors’ Claims
In the introductory part, the authors conjecture that children exposed to tobacco, alcohol, cocaine, as well as other drugs during their first stage in life generally known as prenatal or prenatal period may be at a higher risk for adjustment complications or problems during early development or even at later stages of child development due to harmful effects rendered to them by the drugs mentioned above. For instance, in the first article, the authors find out that children who are prenatally exposed to cocaine are at higher risk of adjustment complications during the early ages due to reduced regulation and higher reactivity during challenging tasks. The authors of the second article reveal that smoking tobacco during pregnancy are connected to adverse outcomes during child development, while the authors of the last article claim that students who are prenatally exposed to alcohol and other illegal drugs are at greater risks of experiencing learning and behavioral problems like undergoing difficulties when shifting tasks and hardship in maintaining learning attention.
Historical Significance
In the past, development psychologists have studied the effects of the aforementioned drugs exposure to children at the prenatal stage have on their early and later life development stages, and the studies revealed that these drugs have severe or adverse outcomes during both child’s physical and cognitive development. A vast number of research studies have examined the aforementioned drugs and the negative influence they render to a child’s development during both early and late child developmental stages. This area of study seems to of great interest as there are many increasing cases of pregnant women who are continuously abusing these drugs without the knowledge of early and later developmental complications or problems they are posing to their unborn babies.
Research design and methods
The studies used quantitative and empirical studies together with interviews as the study methodology in conducting their research. The empirical study was conducted through measurements and observations witnessed by the researchers on the affected children’s cognitive and physical early and later developmental stages. The quantitative study involves gathering and analyzing the numerical data from participants to find out the developmental consequences of prenatal drug exposure. The interview methodology involved seeking the opinions of participant mothers who abused the above drugs during pregnancy. The design through which the research was conducted was appropriate, although it necessitated physical examination instead of over-reliance on mothers’ opinions, measurements, and observations.
Ethics
The researchers of the studies followed the ethical guidelines or rules by only using participants who consented to participate in the study by taking part in a longitudinal study. Approximately 90% of the people, including the children who were requested to Participate in the research accepted. The studies were carried out ethically since all the participants volunteered their participation and would positively enjoy the incentives provided to them by researchers during maternal education and public assistance. The study did not only abide by the field’s historical ethics, but the researches were reviewed by various review boards of institutions like “Hunter College” and the New Jersey University of Medicine and Dentistry,” which added another oversight layer.