Reviews the literature on the infants of narcotic-addicted mothers in regard to psychological outcome and the medical consequences that contribute to that outcome. Consistent with the notion that these infants are at high risk, there is evidence for adverse outcome in that these infants demonstrate significant perinatal medical problems, impaired interactive and state control behavior and attachment behavior during early infancy, and cognitive and psychomotor deficits as measured on infant developmental scales. They also have an uneven developmental pattern with a nonsymptomatic period between 4 and 6 mo and a possible recurrence at 9–22 mo. Although long-term follow-up research has not offered consistent findings, studies have found that in later childhood these infants show increasingly frequent disturbances of activity levels, attention span, sleep patterns, and socialization. It is generally agreed that narcotic agents introduced in utero can have a deleterious effect on the development of infants. (78 ref)
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