Background: The degree to which prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) may influence alcohol and drug use in adulthood is difficult to determine. That is because PAE is highly correlated with environmental factors, including low socioeconomic status and exposure to parental drinking, and with behavioral problems, such as, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which are correlated with alcohol use and abuse.
Methods: Participants were 121 young adults from our Detroit Longitudinal Cohort study. Mothers were recruited during pregnancy and interviewed about their alcohol consumption using a timeline follow-back procedure. At 19 years, their offspring were interviewed regarding current and past use of alcohol, cigarettes, and other illicit drugs.
Results: PAE was associated with greater alcohol, cannabis, and cigarette use. PAE, assessed using overall alcohol intake during pregnancy and alcohol dose per occasion, was associated with larger quantities of alcohol per occasion and greater alcohol tolerance in early adulthood. These effects persisted after control for demographic background, sex, age and education of participant, home environment, other prenatal drug exposure, and postnatal alcohol and drug use by the primary caregiver. Whereas ADHD predicted average alcohol consumed/month during young adulthood, PAE predicted alcohol dose/drinking occasion, and the effect on dose/occasion was not mediated by ADHD.
Conclusions: The effects of PAE on alcohol and cannabis use in young adulthood are not attributable to being reared in an environment that is socioeconomically disadvantaged or in one in which there is extensive maternal drinking. Furthermore, PAE was related to enhanced alcohol tolerance in young adults, a risk factor for alcohol use disorder later in life. Although ADHD was associated with greater alcohol consumption in early adulthood, it did not mediate the effect of PAE on offspring's alcohol use.
Keywords: ADHD; alcohol use; prenatal alcohol; young adulthood.
© 2023 Research Society on Alcohol.