An early report on the mother-baby interactive capacity of substance-abusing mothers

Abstract

Objective: Examination of maternal interactive behavior and psychosocial situation of substance-abusing mothers in treatment.

Method: Twelve mothers with an alcohol or drug abuse problem and 12 control mothers were assessed in random order with the Parent-Child Early Relational Assessment, for the analysis of videotaped mother-infant interactions at 3 and 6 months' postpartum. Depressive symptoms were assessed with Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and aspects of social support with two Social Support Questionnaires.

Results: Substance-abusing mothers tended to have more problematic areas in their interactive behavior, a tendency which increased during the study period. As was expected, they were more often depressive, and experienced more social environment difficulties and less social support.

Conclusions: Mothers with alcohol and drug abuse problems need intensive professional support in early motherhood, and are seen to be particularly motivated to strive for abstinence and accept help at this stage of life.