Emotional Understanding in School-Aged Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders: A Promising Target for Intervention.

BACKGROUND Children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) are at high risk for secondary conditions, including mental health difficulties. Data on both children with typical development and other clinical conditions suggest that limited emotional understanding (EU) raises risk for psychopathology, but little is known about EU in FASD. OBJECTIVES To determine if EU is a reasonable treatment target for children with FASD. METHODS 56 children (6-13 years) with FASD completed the Kusche Affective Interview-Revised, a verbal interview measure of EU. RESULTS Children showed striking delays in EU (2-5 years delay) relative to published normative data, despite mean IQ (IQ=94.56) within normal limits. Individual variability was considerable even after accounting for age and verbal IQ. CONCLUSIONS Despite variability in individual differences, treatments targeting EU may benefit children with FASD as components within a comprehensive, tailored intervention focused on child self-regulation and caregiver behavior management.