The Daily Bulletin Archive

By Jerod Dahlgren

Pamela Schuetze, associate professor of psychology, has received a $140,667 grant to continue her research on maternal substance use and toddler self-regulation through the summer of 2012.

A co-investigator on the project, Schuetze and her colleagues began recruiting new mothers and their children six years ago. About 230 children are now incorporated in the study, which features the assistance of both current and former Buffalo State psychology students.

Over the last six years, Schuetze has analyzed the effects of prenatal exposure to drugs, including cocaine, and how it relates to children’s ability to regulate their emotions such as stress, pleasure, or sadness. The five-year extension will allow researchers to follow these same children as they transition into kindergarten and elementary school, tracking how they will deal with and regulate the new emotions associated with such change.

While many of the children who experienced prenatal exposure to cocaine were characteristically more emotionally reactive, Schuetze noted, the quality of the home environment had a tremendous impact on their ability to regulate emotions.

Schuetze's efforts are funded through a subcontract from the University at Buffalo's Research Institute on Addictions, where Rina Eiden, Ph.D., is the lead investigator on the overall research project, which is supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.