For human beings, other social behavioral problems associated with fetal ethanol exposure become apparent at school age. When matched with unexposed children with low verbal IQs, children with FAS have poor coping skills and interpersonal relationship skills according to the Vineland adaptive behavior scale [VABS (248)], performing three standard deviations below the norm for their age. Others have also reported increased aggression in children with FAS (249). In juvenile PNEE rats (liquid diet GD 6–20), the sexually dimorphic play behaviors were reversed where males displayed female behaviors and vice versa (250). Prior to puberty, ethanol-exposed rats (intubation GD 6–19) exhibit more play behavior though males that are more aggressive (see Figure 2 for a schematic) following puberty than unexposed controls (251). It must be noted, however, the great differences between the complexity of social behavior between human beings and rodents at this age and beyond when drawing parallels between the two species.
