Prenatal Cannabis Use and Offspring Autism-Related Behaviors: Examining Maternal Stress as a Moderator in a Black American Cohort Open Access

Abstract

The prevalence of both autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnoses and cannabis use during pregnancy are increasing. While researchers are examining these phenomena independently, few have examined their possible association. Some studies have suggested that prenatal cannabis use might be associated with increased risk of ASD, but further research is needed to substantiate these findings. Additionally, prenatal stress has been identified as a risk factor for ASD. Black mothers and mothers of lower socioeconomic status (SES) may be especially likely to experience high levels of prenatal stress due to additional exposure to race- and poverty-related stressors. This project aimed to examine the impact of prenatal cannabis use and prenatal distress (i.e., racial discrimination, perceived stress and lower SES) on child autism-related behaviors in a sample of 172 Black mother-child pairs, with special attention to how maternal experiences of discrimination and socioeconomic status affect this association. We hypothesized that both prenatal cannabis use and prenatal stress would predict increased levels of child ASD-related behaviors, and that the association between prenatal cannabis use and child ASD-related behaviors would be stronger in cases of higher prenatal distress. We found no significant associations between prenatal cannabis use and autism behaviors and no moderation effects. We did, however, find that prenatal stress predicted autism behaviors reported on the Achenbach Childhood Behavior Checklist (CBCL) in our sample. These findings replicate previous work on prenatal-ASD associations and add to the limited literature on cannabis-ASD associations. In light of the current trends in the perception and use of cannabis during pregnancy, we emphasize the need for more rigorous investigation of the long-term effects 

of prenatal cannabis exposure. 

Table of Contents

 

PAGE

ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………………….

4

LIST OF TABLES……………………………………………………………………...

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INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………....

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Cannabis Use……………………………………………………………………

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Maternal Stress………………………………………………………………….

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THE PRESENT STUDY…………………………………………………..…………...

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Objective

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Specific Aims

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METHODS……………………………………………………………………………..

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Participants……………………………………………………………………...

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Procedures………………………………………………………………………

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Measures…………………………………………………………………...

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RESULTS………………………………………………………………………………

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Descriptive Statistics & Exploratory Correlations…………………………..

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Preliminary Results……………..………………………………………………

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Testing the Hypotheses………………………….……………………………..

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DISCUSSION…………………………………………………………………………..

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Strengths and Limitations of the Current Study………………………………...

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Conclusion………………………………………………………………………

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REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………………,

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TABLES………………………………………………………………………………...

35

About this Master's Thesis

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School	Laney Graduate School
Department	Psychology
Subfield / Discipline	Clinical Psychology
Degree	M.A.
Submission	Master's Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Clinical
Keyword	autism spectrum disorder prenatal cannabis use
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Patricia A. Brennan, Ph.D., Emory University
Committee Members	Rohan H.C. Palmer, Ph.D., Emory University Daniel D. Dilks, Ph.D., Emory University

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