'Crack babies' were to the 1980s what 'meth babies' are to the new millennium, but follow-up research has consistently shown that children exposed to cocaine before birth have no more behavioral problems than others their age.

Science Daily reported May 3 that University of Florida (UF) researchers recently reported that, in fact, behavioral problems among three-year-olds could be more closely linked to maternal depression than cocaine exposure.

"In all of the various outcomes we have looked at, people have expected very bad things," said lead author Tamara D. Warner, Ph.D., of the UF College of Medicine. "These dire predictions were made about this group of kids. This study shows there really aren't the huge problems that we might expect."

A group of 256 mostly poor and black children were studied, about half of whom had been exposed to cocaine before birth. Researchers found that between five and 10 percent exhibited disruptive behavioral problems.

"If you're poor and you need mental-health services, you're in bad shape," Warner said. "Both sets of moms were reporting a large number of depressive symptoms and have been from the beginning. And that is probably more likely to result in emotional behavior problems for the children than prenatal cocaine exposure."

However, Deborah Frank, Ph.D., a pediatrics professor from Boston Medical Center, stressed that, "None of this research should be taken as, 'It's OK to use crack when you're pregnant. It's not something women do for fun. It's something women do out of despair."

The research was published in the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics.