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Although alcohol use during pregnancy has been associated with neurodevelopmental consequences in offspring, most studies have emphasized the dangers of ongoing heavy use, sometimes resulting in fetal alcohol syndrome. In this study, the largest to date, investigators examined youth and parent self-reports, cognitive tasks, and MRI data to assess the effects of lighter use of alcohol during pregnancy on psychological, behavioral, and neurodevelopmental characteristics of preadolescent offspring.
The authors assessed data from 9719 community-dwelling children aged 9 or 10 and their parents; 2518 mothers reported alcohol exposure during pregnancy. Analyses of exposure levels were conducted among 1203 mothers with light alcohol exposure before …