PILOT ABSTRACT:
Parenting Among Women in Substance Abuse Treatment
Linda Lewin
Substance abuse has serious health and social impact on individuals and families. It is the most common reason for the legal termination of parental custody of children. Mothers who abuse substances are more likely to have insecure relationships with their children, placing them at-risk for problems with social functioning, school performance, future adult relationships, and possible development of co-morbid psychiatric conditions. Moreover, if children are placed in the state custody, there are increased social welfare costs and protective service supervision of the family. Social welfare dependence and reduced family autonomy are deterrents to self- and family management. The goals of this pilot study are to describe relational quality of mothers in substance abuse treatment with their children, and to determine the strength of influence on relational quality of the mother’s perception of being parented, level of depression and perceptions of her maternal role. The research findings will be used to develop future interventions to improve self-management of the parental relationship by these women. Interventions might require engaging the mother and her children in active participation in dealing with both the substance abuse and the parental relationship. This study will consist of 20 mother-child pairs where the mother has been voluntarily admitted for substance abuse treatment. The research will use a mixed methods design using both quantitative and qualitative techniques. Two measurement times will occur; Time 1 during in-patient substance abuse treatment and Time 2 in the mother’s household, two months following discharge. Mothers and children will be video recorded in select tasks to measure dyadic quality, using the Parent-Child Early Relational Assessment tool. Mothers will complete demographic/social information, the Beck Depression Inventory–II, and the Parental Bonding Instrument. Mothers will also be interviewed about their perceptions of being a mother and responses will be content analyzed.
Relevance: Women who abuse substances experience long-term problems with their health and adverse affects in the relationship with their children. This study will examine women with young children who are in substance abuse treatment. The relationship of the mother with her parents, level of depression, and mother-child interactional tasks will be studied to describe how they affect the mother’s and family’s ability to self mange both the problem and the parental relationship. The results will help health care providers to design helpful interventions. |
