CoFASP

Researchers from MSACD were Co-Investigators on the Collaboration on FASD Prevalence (CoFASP) research consortium, that was comprised of research teams led by Drs. Christina Chambers and Phil May, that sought to establish the prevalence of FASD among school-aged children in several U.S. communities, located in California, North Carolina and the Northern Plains, using active case ascertainment methodology. In addition to establishing a more precise and representative prevalence estimate through standardized diagnostic criteria for FASD, NIAAA’s goal for this initiative was to establish a publicly available database to facilitate future FASD research.  

The MSACD contribution was two-fold. First, to provide expertise on developmental testing to identify behavioral characteristics of alcohol-affected children. Drs. Coles and Kable developed a battery to be administered to all children in this study and, working with collaborators in New Mexico, created a method for characterizing the cognitive, adaptive and behavioral outcomes that identified affected children. A second contribution was training San Diego Staff and School personnel to use our MILE intervention program as a way of providing treatment to children identified during this epidemiological study and supporting schools who have agreed to participate in this effort.

• This project was the first to quantify the prevalence of FASD in the United States
• First Grade children were recruited from California, South Dakota and North Carolina
• The study found that 2 to 5% of the children surveyed had evidence of effects of prenatal alcohol exposure. This was the first comprehensive study of its kind in the USA.

• Coles, CD, Bandoli, G, Kable, JA, del Campo, M., Suttie, M., & Chambers, CD (2023) Comparison of Three Systems for the Diagnosis of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders in a Community Sample. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. doi: 10.1111/acer.14999.
• PMID: 36521847
• Montag, AC, Jones, KL, Del Campo, M., Akshoomoff, N, Coles, CD, Kable, JA, Hernandez, JG, Chambers, CD (2022)  Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders and access to regional center services in San Diego County. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 46 (10), 1857-1864, doi: 10.1111/acer.14934. Epub 2022 Sep 14.PMID: 36059261
• Kable, JA, Coles, CD, Holton, JE, Kalberg, WO, May, PA, Chambers, CD, & Bandoli, G. (2022) Characteristics of the symptoms of the proposed ND-PAE disorder in first grade children in a community sample. Child Psychiatry and Human Development. August 2022. On line ahead of print.
• Bandoli, G, Kable, JA, Coles,  CD, del Campo, M, Suttie, M, & Chambers,  CD (2022) Trajectories of prenatal alcohol exposure and behavioral outcomes: Findings from a community based sample. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 233.
• Coles, CD, Kalberg, W, Kable, JA, Tabachnick, B, May, PA, Chambers, CD and the CoFASP (2020). Characterizing Alcohol-Related Neurodevelopmental Disorder (ARND): Prenatal alcohol exposure and the spectrum of outcomes. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 44 (6), 1245-1260, PMID:32173870
• Chambers, CD, Coles, CD, Kable, JA, Akshoomoff, N, Xu, R, Zellner, J, Honerkamp-Smith, G,  Manning, MA, Adam, MP, Jones, KL(2019) Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders in a Pacific Southwest City: Maternal and child characteristics. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.
• May, PA, Chambers, CD, Kalberg, WO, Zellner, J, Feldman, H., Buckley, D, Kopald, D, Hasken, JM, Xu, R, Honerkamp-Smith, G, Taras, H, Manning, MA, Robinson, LK, Adam, MP, Abdul-Rahman, O, Vaux, K, Jewett, T, Elliott, AJ, Kable, JA, Askhoomoff, N, Faulk, D, Arroyo, JA, Hereld, D, Riley, EP, Charness, M, Coles, CD, Warren, KR, Jones, KJ, Hoyme, HE, and the CoFASP.  (2018) Prevalence of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders in Four Communities of the United States: Results from the Collaboration on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Prevalence (CoFASP). Journal of the American Medical Association 6:319 (5), 474-482.