# Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder in Adults: Health and Neurobehavior

> **NIH NIH U01** · EMORY UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $141,308

## Abstract

The 5-year award, for which this would be an administrative supplement in response to NOT-AA-20-011,
focuses on the impact of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) on physical and mental health within the context
of social and environmental factors that may contribute to outcomes in adulthood. There are two important,
and related, reasons to include attention to COVID-19 and the medical and social implications of the
pandemic in this ongoing study of alcohol-affected adults. First, there is evidence that the adults in the
longitudinal cohorts being followed in Atlanta and Seattle are particularly vulnerable to the impact of the
pandemic. Second, given this vulnerability, the pandemic represents a historic threat to the validity of study
outcomes that must be addressed. In the parent study, 500 volunteers, half from each site will be seen for
Tier 1, that includes remote collection of self-reported health and demographic information. In Tier 2, 240
individuals are being seen for more comprehensive assessment of health risk, immune status,
neurocognition, and social functioning. To date, 226 individuals have completed Tier 1. Preliminary data,
from Years 1-3, indicates that, in these samples, PAE is associated with higher risk for cardiovascular
compromise, intellectual and social dysfunction, and higher rates of substance use. The majority of
individuals in these cohorts are from populations that have been identified nationally as more impacted by
COVID-19 infection and mortality (i.e., African-American; Native-American) and many in these groups
are highly anxious about the effects of the virus. Given these factors, we will collect information on the
impact of COVID-19 on health (e.g..,medical records), social outcomes (e.g., job loss, homelessness), and
mental health status as well as substance use. COVID-relevant questionnaires will be administered
remotely to both those who have previously participated and to future participants allow measurement of
the effects of the pandemic on these outcomes. In Atlanta only, an extra tube of blood will be obtained
during existing blood draw for antibody testing. Finally, we will employ the National Death Index (NDI)
to determine mortality rates over the past 10 years in the parent cohorts from which these samples are being
drawn, allowing an estimate of mortality in these 902 individuals who have previously participated in
research. We anticipate that individuals with PAE will show more impact on health during this emergency
and they may have a higher mortality rate than nonexposed individuals. Further, we anticipate that PAE
will be associated with greater anxiety related to COVID-Exposure and increased substance use. We also
hypothesize that social and environmental factors will contribute to the severity of effects.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10175897
- **Project number:** 3U01AA026108-04S2
- **Recipient organization:** EMORY UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Claire D. Coles
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $141,308
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2017-07-01 → 2022-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10175897

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10175897, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder in Adults: Health and Neurobehavior (3U01AA026108-04S2). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10175897. Licensed CC0.

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