The family environment and language development of preschool children prenatally exposed to crack-cocaine
Authors:   , Brockwell Diana Piperata , McGuffin Patrick W. 
Published: July 2024

A relatively limited amount of research has been conducted to determine what are the long-term effects of prenatal crack-cocaine exposure on the developing infant and preschool child. The language development of the preschool child, as well as the family environment in which this child is reared, have both been the focus of previous studies. However, the studies have been few and the information obtained thus far has been inconclusive, leaving many questions about development unanswered and providing little insight into the home environments of these subtance-abusing families. The present research was proposed in order to address these unanswered questions through study of the family environments and language development of preschool children prenatally exposed to crack-cocaine. The present study proposed three hypotheses for investigation. The first was a design which included non-exposed and prenatally crack-cocaine exposed African-American preschool-aged children. With exposure group as the independent variable, a t-test analyses found no significant differences between the groups in language development as measured on two scales of language development (Mullen Scales of Early Learning - Preschool, 1992). Application of a z-test revealed no statistically significant differences when the performance scores of all children (regardless of prenatal history) were grouped together and compared to the MSEL-Preschool standardization sample mean scores. Although the sample group of children reared in crack-cocaine abusing environments performed at the lower limits of language development, their performance was still within normal limits. A stepwise multiple regression on the LRO (Language Receptive Organization) variable indicated no linear relationship for any of the ten subscale measurements of the Family Environment Scale Form R (FES-R; Moos & Moos, 1994). A second stepwise multiple regression on the LEO (Language Expressive Organization) variable concluded similarly. The second investigation compared the mean FES-R subscales scores for a sample of 88 African-American mother/child dyads. The participants' mean scores were compared to each of three normative sample groups of the FES - R (Normal, Distressed, and African-American/Latino Normal). Z-test analyses revealed no significant differences between the family environment scores of the sample and those of the three normative groups. The information obtained provided valuable descriptive statistics, as well as normative data, for family environments characterized by crack-cocaine abuse and addiction. The final investigation was a replication study of previous research by the author of the present study (Piperata Brockwell, 1995). Sixty-five, African-American children prenatally exposed to crack-cocaine were divided into two studies by age. Study 1 included infants and toddlers. Study 2 included preschool-age children. Using the five developmental scales of the Mullen Scales of Early Learning - Infant (Mullen, 1989), Study 1 compared the mean performance scores of these children to the standardization sample of this instrument. Study 2 utilized the four developmental scales of the Mullen Scales of Early Learning - Preschool (Mullen, 1994) to compare the mean performance scores of these children to the standardization sample of this instrument. Application of multiple z-tests revealed no significant differences in performance between the crack-cocaine exposed children in both Studies 1 and 2 and the norming sample. The findings of Study 1 replicate those of Piperata Brockwell (1995), while the results of Study 2 are in contradiction. Possible explanations for all of the research findings of the present study, limitations of this study, and recommendations for continued investigation are discussed.