Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-02T22:00:01.647Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Social Development in Children with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 August 2013

Samantha Parkinson  and
Sara McLean
Samantha Parkinson
Affiliation:
Australian Centre for Child Protection, University of South Australia, Australia
Sara McLean*
Affiliation:
Australian Centre for Child Protection, University of South Australia, Australia
*
addresses for correspondence:Sara McLean, GPO Box 2471, Adelaide SA 5001, E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) develop when unborn children are exposed to alcohol prenatally. As a result of this exposure, children with FASD exhibit a range of social, behavioural, cognitive and even physical deficits that can impede their life-long development. These deficits can be influenced by maltreatment and the instability resulting from being placed into out-of-home care, and/or multiple foster-care placement breakdowns. The aim of this article is to increase awareness amongst child welfare professionals of how prenatal alcohol exposure impacts on children's social development. Social deficits include problems with social cognition and social information processing, which result in issues in social problem solving, processing social cues, social judgement, and developing and maintaining relationships. These deficits leave children with a FASD vulnerable to victimisation, exploitation, peer pressure and, as a result, interaction with the criminal justice system. Deficits are life-long and become more pronounced with age, although early detection and intervention appears to improve social skills deficits. Such interventions need to be explored further as they could potentially mitigate some of these deficits by capitalising on the neuroplasticity of a child's developing brain and pave a more positive trajectory for these children's future.

Keywords

FASDPAEsocial developmentsocial information processingsocial skills deficits
Type
Articles
Information
Children Australia , Volume 38 , Issue 3 , September 2013 , pp. 124 - 128
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Beaumont, R. & Sofronoff, K. (2008). A multi-component social skills intervention for children with Asperger syndrome: The junior detective training program. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 49 (7), 743–753. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2008.01920.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brown, J. D., Bednar, L. M., & Sigvaldason, N. (2007). Causes of placement breakdown for foster children affected by alcohol. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 24 (4), 313–332. doi: 10.1007/s10560-007-0086-9CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coles, C. D., Platzman, K. A., Raskind-Hood, C. L., Brown, R. T., Falek, A., & Smith, I. E. (1997). A comparison of children affected by prenatal alcohol exposure and attention deficit, hyperactivity disorder. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 21 (1), 150–161. doi: 10.1111/j.1530-0277.1997.tb03743.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Conry, J. L., Fast, D. K., & Loock, C. A. (1997). Youth in the criminal justice system: identifying FAS and other developmental disabilities. Vancouver BC: Final Report to the Ministry of the Attorney General.Google Scholar
Crocker, N., Vaurio, L., Riley, E. P., & Mattson, S. N. (2011). Comparison of verbal learning and memory in children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 35 (6), 1114–1121. doi: 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2011.01444.x.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dodge, K. A., Lansford, J. E., Burks, V. S., Bates, J. E., Pettit, G. S., Fontaine, R., & Price, J. M. (2003). Peer rejection and social information-processing factors in the development of aggressive behaviour problems in children. Child Development, 74 (2), 347–393. doi: 10.1111/1467-8624.7402004CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fast, D. K., & Conry, J. (2009). Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders and the criminal justice system. Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews, 15 (3), 250–257. doi: 10.1002/ddrr.66CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Frankel, F. (2005). Parent-assisted children's friendship training. In Hibbs, E. & Jensen, P. (Eds.), Psychosocial treatments for child and adolescent disorders: Empirically based approaches (pp. 693–715). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.Google Scholar
Frankel, F. H. & Myatt, R. (2003). Children's friendship training. New York: Brunner-Routledge Publishers.Google Scholar
Green, J. H. (2007). Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders: Understanding the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure and supporting students. Journal of School Health, 77 (3), 103–108. doi: 10.1111/j.1746-1561.2007.00178.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Greenbaum, R. L., Stevens, S. A., Nash, K., Koren, G., & Rovet, J. (2009). Social cognitive and emotion processing abilities of children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders: A comparison with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 33 (10), 1656–1670. doi: 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2009.01003.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hennessey, B. A. (2007). Promoting social competence in school-aged children: The effects of the open circle program. Journal of School Psychology, 45 (3), 349–360. doi: 10.1016/j.jsp.2006.11.007CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jeffreys, H., Hirte, C., Rogers, N., & Wilson, R. (2009). Parental substance misuse and children's entry into alternative care in South Australia. Retrieved from http://www.dcsi.sa.gov.au/pub/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=MKdXFK2RuXM%3d&tabid=607Google Scholar
Johnston, M. V., Ishida, A., Ishida, W. N., Matushita, H. B., Nishimura, A., & Tsuji, M. (2009). Plasticity and injury in the developing brain. Brain and Development, 31, 1–10. doi: 10.1016/j.braindev.2008.03.014CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kalberg, W. O., & Buckley, D. (2007). Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders: What types of interventions and rehabilitation are useful? Neuroscience and Biobehavioural Reviews, 31 (2), 278–285. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2006.06.014CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Keil, V., Paley, B., Frankel, F., & O'Connor, M. J. (2010). Impact of a social skills intervention on the hostile attributions of children with prenatal alcohol exposure. Alcohol Clinical and Experimental Research, 34, 231–241. doi: 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2009.01086.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kodituwakku, P. W., & Kodituwakku, E. L. (2011). From research to practice: An integrative framework for the development of interventions for children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. Neuropsychology Review, 21 (2), 204–223. doi: 10.1007/s11065-011-9170-1CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kodituwakku, P. W., Segall, J. M., & Beatty, G. K. (2011). Cognitive and behavioural effects of prenatal alcohol exposure. Future Neurology, 6 (2), 237–259. doi: 10.2217/fnl.11.4CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kully-Martens, K., Denys, K., Treit, S., Tamana, S., & Rasmussen, C. (2012). A review of social skills deficits in individuals with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders and prenatal alcohol exposure: Profiles, mechanisms, and interventions. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 36 (4), 568–576. doi:10.1111/j.1530-0277.2011.01661.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mattson, S., Crocker, N., & Nguyen, T. (2011). Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders: neuropsychological and behavioral features. Neuropsychology Review, 21 (2), 81–101. doi:10.1007/s11065-011-9167-9CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mattson, S. N., & Riley, E. P. (2000). Parent ratings of behaviour in children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure and IQ-matched controls. Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental Research, 24 (2), 226–231. doi: 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2000.tb04595.xGoogle ScholarPubMed
McGee, C. L., Bjorkquist, O. A., Price, J. M., Mattson, S. N., & Riley, E. P. (2009). Social information processing skills in children with histories of heavy prenatal alcohol exposure. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 37 (6), 817–830. doi: 10.1007/s10802-009-9313-5CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
National Centre on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (2004). Fetal Alcohol Syndrome: Guidelines for referral and diagnosis. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/fasd/documents/fas_guidelines_accessible.pdfGoogle Scholar
O'Connor, M. J., Frankel, F., Paley, B., Schonfeld, A. M., Carpenter, E., Laugeson, E. A., & Marquardt, R. (2006). A controlled social skills training for children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 74 (4), 639–648. doi: 10.1037/0022-006X.74.4.639CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Paley, B., & Auerbach, B. E. (2010). Children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders in the dependency court system: Challenges and recommendations. Journal of Psychiatry and Law, 38 (4), 507–558. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezlibproxy.unisa.edu.au/publication/prod.academic_publications_48123?accountid=14649CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rasmussen, C., Becker, M., McLennan, J., Urichuk, L., & Andrew, G. (2010). An evaluation of social skills in children with and without prenatal alcohol exposure. Child: Care, Health and Development, 37 (5), 711–718. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2214.2010.01152.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smith, D. K., Johnson, A. B., Pears, K. C., Fisher, P. A., & DeGarmo, D. S. (2007). Child maltreatment and foster care: Unpacking the effects of prenatal and post natal parental substance use. Child Maltreatment, 12 (2), 150–160. doi: 10.1177/1077559507300129CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Streissguth, A. P. (1997). Fetal alcohol syndrome: A guide for families and communities. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes.Google Scholar
Streissguth, A. P., Aase, J. M., Clarren, S. K., Randels, S. P., LaDue, R. A., & Smith, D. F. (1991). Fetal alcohol syndrome in adolescents and adults. The Journal of the American Medical Association, 265 (15), 1961–1967. doi: 10.1001/jama.1991.03460150065025CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Streissguth, A. P., Barr, H. M., Bookstein, F. L., Sampson, P. D., O'Malley, K., & Young, J. K. (2004). Risk factors for adverse life outcomes in fetal alcohol syndrome and fetal alcohol effects. Journal of Developmental and Behavioural Pediatrics, 25 (4), 228–238.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Streissguth, A. P., Barr, H. M., Kogan, J., & Bookstein, F. L. (1996). Understanding the occurrence of secondary disabilities in clients with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) and fetal alcohol effects (FAE): Final report to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Fetal Alcohol and Drug Unit.Google Scholar
Thomas, S. E., Kelly, S. J., Mattson, S. N, & Riley, E. P. (1998). Comparison of social abilities of children with fetal alcohol syndrome to those of children with similar IQ scores and normal controls. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 22 (2), 528–533. doi: 10.1111/j.1530-0277.1998.tb03684.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Whaley, S. E., O'Connor, M. J., & Gunderson, B. (2001). Comparison of adaptive functioning of children prenatally exposed to alcohol to a nonexposed clinical sample. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 25 (7), 1018–1024. doi: 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2001.tb02311.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wilkins, A., Jones, H., Watkins, R., Mutch, R., & Bower, C. (2013). Evaluation of information and support for parents and carers of children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. A report to the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education. Retrieved from http://www.fare.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Telelthon-FASD-Evaluation-of-information.pdfGoogle Scholar