Substance-Abusing Mothers: Toward an Understanding of Parenting and Risk Behavior

Abstract

This exploratory study assessed and evaluated psychological responses and parenting skills among substance-abusing mothers receiving methadone maintenance treatment. Our findings show that mothers using alcohol, cannabis, and LSD have more stress about their role as a parent. Present findings are consistent with those from prior studies showing that mothers heavily involved in drugs experience more difficulties with their children, especially regarding control of the child. In the current study, substance-abusing mothers with high levels of suicidal behavior had high levels of anxiety. Furthermore, these mothers reported increased stress about their parental role, disappointment of their children, rejection or alienation by the child, and/or perceived parent-child interactions as not satisfying. In sum, substance-abusing women in treatment tend to be at high risk of poverty, mental health problems, and having their child placed in out-of-home care. Children who do live in homes where a parent abuses substances are at high risk for developing emotional, social, and behavioral problems. The present study is typical of many studies of drug using women in terms of the difficulty to access a large enough study cohort to justify generalization of findings. This factor limited the nature and scope of the study analysis. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)