Visual selective attention is impaired in children prenatally exposed to opioid agonist medication.
OBJECTIVE
To examine whether prenatal exposure to opioid agonist medication is associated with visual selective attention and general attention problems in early childhood.


METHODS
Twenty-two children (mean age = 52.17 months, SD = 1.81) prenatally exposed to methadone, 9 children (mean age = 52.41 months, SD = 1.42) prenatally exposed to buprenorphine and 25 nonexposed comparison children (mean age = 51.44 months, SD = 1.31) were tested. Visual selective attention was measured with a Tobii 1750 Eye Tracker using a spatial negative priming paradigm. Attention problems were measured using the Child Behavior Checklist.


RESULTS
The comparison group demonstrated a larger spatial negative priming effect (mean = 23.50, SD = 45.50) than the exposed group [mean = -6.84, SD = 86.39, F(1,50) = 5.91, p = 0.019, η(2) = 0.11]. No difference in reported attention problems was found [F(1,51) = 1.63, p = 0.21, η(2) = 0.03]. Neonatal abstinence syndrome and prenatal exposure to marijuana were found to predict slower saccade latencies in the exposed group (b = 54.55, SE = 23.56, p = 0.03 and b = 88.86, SE = 32.07, p = 0.01, respectively).


CONCLUSIONS
Although exposed children did not appear to have attention deficits in daily life, lower performance on the SNP task indicates subtle alteration in the attention system.
The Cognitive Developmental Research Unit, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
Carolien
C
Konijnenberg
Annika
A
Melinder
D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000009:adverse effects*; D001288:Attention / Q000187:drug effects*; D002047:Buprenorphine / Q000009:adverse effects; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008691:Methadone / Q000009:adverse effects; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D012438:Saccades / Q000187:drug effects*
D000701:Analgesics, Opioid; D002047:Buprenorphine; D008691:Methadone