# A Multisite Neurobehavioral Assessment of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders

> **NIH NIH U01** · SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $39,814

## Abstract

Project Summary
This request for a renewal of funding is in response to the NIH/NIAAA funding opportunity entitled,
“Collaborative Initiative on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (CIFASD)” (RFA-AA-17-007). The overarching
aim of the current proposal is to develop, validate, and implement clinically novel and innovative measurement
tools to accurately identify children who are affected by prenatal alcohol exposure. The proposed study is
relevant to the overall objective of the CIFASD funding opportunity “to accelerate specific areas of research
related to the translation of new or improved capabilities in FASD clinical case recognition.” This is critical need.
While there has been a concerted research effort since the initial clinical delineation of fetal alcohol syndrome
(FAS), understanding the full spectrum of effects of prenatal alcohol exposure remains incomplete, hindering
effective intervention. Although individuals with prenatal alcohol exposure may experience significantly
impairing functional difficulties, identification of these individuals is inadequate. High rates of missed diagnoses
and misdiagnosis result in lost opportunities for intervention and misunderstanding of the etiology of observed
difficulties. Development of accurate and specific identification tools will improve diagnostic capability and
clinical decision-making regarding treatment. To this end, during previous funding periods we substantially
enhanced the understanding of the specificity of effects of prenatal alcohol exposure to increase identification
of alcohol-affected youth. Our hierarchical CIFASD Decision Tree, developed and validated on over 800
subjects, indicates that administration of just 4 measures can distinguish alcohol-affected youth from
nonexposed controls with and without behavioral concerns or conditions with accuracy rates of >80%. While a
significant step forward, the Decision Tree was developed and validated in a research sample with a high risk
of alcohol effects. One aim of the current proposal is to develop and test an electronic version of the Decision
Tree (the eTree) in lower risk, international, population-based, and clinic-based samples. Another aim of the
proposal, in line with the specific RFA goal to use innovative technologies to screen for dysmorphology and/or
neurobehavioral deficits to aid in the identification of alcohol-exposed individuals, is the development and
implementation of the FASD Online Neurobehavioral Screen (FONS), a web-based neurobehavioral
assessment tool for use with subjects recruited via a web portal (cf. Foroud U01). The FONS will measure
domains known to be affected in FASD, including those represented in diagnostic criteria for neurobehavioral
disorder associated with prenatal alcohol exposure (ND-PAE). The eTree and the FONS will be validated using
laboratory-based in-person neuropsychological assessment of children with histories of prenatal alcohol
exposure and non-exposed controls with and without behavior...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10025101
- **Project number:** 3U01AA014834-16S1
- **Recipient organization:** SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** SARAH N MATTSON WELLER
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $39,814
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2020-02-01 → 2022-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10025101

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10025101, A Multisite Neurobehavioral Assessment of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (3U01AA014834-16S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10025101. Licensed CC0.

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