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An analysis of the possible effect of long-term stress from radiation exposure on cognitive functioning in 300 children from families evacuated to Kyiv, Ukraine, following the Chornobyl nuclear power plant accident in 1986 indicates that the evacuee children performed as well as their contemporaries in memory, attention and intelligence tests. This was also the case for children who were in utero at the time of the disaster. However, more evacuee mothers reported memory difficulties in their children than classmates' mothers. This is likely to be connected with mothers' anxiety.