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Child & Adolescent Workgroup (CAWG)

What We Do:

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is the lead Federal agency for the conduct of basic, clinical, and epidemiological research designed to improve the understanding, treatment, and prevention of drug abuse and addiction and the health consequences of these behaviors. This research is intended to increase knowledge and promote effective strategies to deal with health problems and issues associated with drug abuse. The NIDA mission applies to infants, children, and adolescents to a great extent, and in a variety of ways. An overview is provided below:

NIDA sponsors a program of research on the health and development of children whose parents abuse illicit drugs. This effort is based on the following principles. Parental substance abuse has the potential to influence the development and the health of infants and children in many ways, via direct effects (e.g., prenatal drug exposure, postnatal passive drug exposure) and via indirect effects associated with drug abuse. Some of these indirect effects may be very specific (e.g., transmission of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), from mother to infant) and some may be complexly-interwoven (e.g., violence in the home and the community, and dysfunctional parenting associated with substance abuse). Outcomes of interest range from fetal development to infant and child developmental functioning, to vulnerability to drug abuse among the children and adolescents.

Research Areas:

  • Prenatal Drug Exposure and Drug-Abusing Environments
  • Epidemiology of Youth Drug Abuse
  • Origins and Pathways to Drug Abuse
  • Drug Abuse Prevention
  • Drug Abuse and HIV/AIDS
  • Drug Abuse Treatment
  • Health and Developmental Consequences of Youth Drug Abuse
  • Drug Abuse Treatment Services

Related Funding Announcements:

Workgroup Members:

This page was last updated December 2011

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