Cocaine addiction in mothers: potential effects on maternal care and infant development.
Maternal cocaine addiction is a significant public health issue particularly affecting children, with high rates of reported abuse, neglect, and foster care placement. This review examines both preclinical and clinical evidence for how cocaine abuse may affect maternal care and infant development, exploring brain, behavioral, and neuroendocrine mechanisms. There is evidence that cocaine affects infant development both directly, via in utero exposure, and indirectly via alterations in maternal care. Two neural systems known to play an important role in both maternal care and cocaine addiction are the oxytocin and dopamine systems, mediating social and reward-related behaviors and stress reactivity. These same neural mechanisms may also be involved in the infant's development of vulnerability to addiction. Understanding the neuroendocrine pathways involved in maternal behavior and addiction may help facilitate earlier, more effective interventions to help substance-abusing mothers provide adequate care for their infant and perhaps prevent the intergenerational transmission of risk.
Strathearn
Lane
L
The Meyer Center for Developmental Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine/Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, Texas 77030-2399, USA. lanes@bcm.edu
Mayes
Linda C
LC
D000818:Animals; D002657:Child Development; D019970:Cocaine-Related Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D004298:Dopamine / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009490:Neurosecretory Systems / Q000503:physiopathology; D009769:Object Attachment; D010121:Oxytocin / Q000502:physiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000523:psychology
D010121:Oxytocin; D004298:Dopamine