Neonatal sleep development and early learning in infants with prenatal opioid exposure

Abstract

The aim of this chapter is to examine the role of sleep and cognition in the context of the cumulative risk model examining samples of at-risk infants and maternal-infant dyads. The cumulative risk model posits that non-optimal developmental outcomes are the result of multiple factors in a child's life including, but not limited to, prenatal teratogenic exposures, premature birth, family socioeconomic status, parenting style and cognitions as well as the focus of this volume, sleep. We highlight poor neonatal sleep as both an outcome of perinatal risk as well as a risk factor to developing attentional and cognitive capabilities during early childhood. Outcomes associated with and contributing to poor sleep and cognition during infancy are examined in relation to other known risks in our clinical population. Implications of this research and recommendations for interventions for this population are provided.

Keywords: Alcohol; Early neurodevelopment; Electroencephalogram (EEG); Learning; Low socioeconomic status; NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale (NNNS); Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS); Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome (NOWS); Polysubstance exposure; Prenatal opioid exposure; Sleep.