Ann Arbor, MI: Prenatal cannabis exposure is not associated with negative cognitive outcomes at adolescence, according to longitudinal data published in the journal Alcohol: Clinical & Experimental Research.
A team of researchers from the United States and Australia assessed cognitive performance in a cohort of adolescents with and without prenatal exposure to cannabis and/or alcohol. Adolescents were assessed at 10 years old (baseline) and then again at ages 12 and 14.
Investigators did not identify any negative associations once they adjusted for socioeconomic covariates. “Little evidence emerged for negative effects of low-level prenatal alcohol, cannabis, or combined exposure on adolescents’ cognitive development after accounting for sociodemographic factors,” they determined.
The study’s authors concluded: “This study utilized a large, longitudinal dataset to examine the differential and combined effects of PAE [prenatal alcohol exposure] and PCE [prenatal cannabis exposure] on trajectories of cognitive abilities across adolescence, a critical period of cognitive development. … No effects persisted after including covariates. … Results suggest light prenatal alcohol and cannabis use are not associated with long-term negative cognitive outcomes during adolescence and highlight the importance of considering the impact of social factors when studying associations with prenatal substance use.”
The findings are consistent with those of a study published last year in the journal Academic Pediatrics, which reported that subjects exposed to cannabis in utero are no more likely to suffer developmental delays as young children than are those with no prenatal exposure.
Although some studies have associated in utero cannabis exposure with low birth weight, longitudinal studies following in utero-exposed infants to adulthood have generally failed to identify “any long-term or long lasting meaningful differences” in their neurodevelopment.
Full text of the study, “Associations of low-level prenatal alcohol and cannabis exposure with adolescent cognitive trajectories,” appears in Alcohol: Clinical & Experimental Research.
Additional information is available from the NORML Fact Sheet, ‘Maternal Cannabis Use and Childhood Outcomes.’