One limitation of this study is potentially poor generalizability. The current findings were from a cohort that included only low SES urban African-American women and their children. Reliability of assessments of maternal alcohol use or abuse may differ across populations (Nardini et al., 2006; Bradley et al., 1998; Ewing, 1984; Sokol et al., 1989; Chan, et al., 1993). The effectiveness of antenatal versus retrospective report should be replicated on a larger sample and in other populations. It is valuable to note, however, that epidemiological and clinical studies in other populations including Native American, South African and Italian children have also found significant relations between retrospective report and child outcome (e.g., Aragon, et al., 2008a; 2008b; Kodituwakku, et al., 2006; May, et al., 2006; 2007; 2008). Another possible limitation is the use of kin report substituting for maternal retrospective report for 22 of the cases (7.6%). Reports by witnesses can be qualitatively different from self-report and might be susceptible to increased error (e.g., exaggeration or fabrication) or underestimation (e.g., compare results in Chang, et al., 1999). On the other hand, adding
