Gender and alcohol moderate caregiver reported child behavior after prenatal cocaine

Prenatal cocaine exposure was associated with adverse effects on offspring behavior that were moderated by the gender of the offspring as well as prenatal alcohol exposure. For girls without prenatal alcohol exposure, 6.5% of the unique variance in behavior was related to prenatal cocaine exposure. For these girls, the odds of scoring in the abnormal range for Aggression was 17 times control levels (95% confidence limits 1.4 to 203). These findings, though significant, have wide confidence intervals and need to be replicated in larger cohorts and on longitudinal follow-up.