title: Differential responsiveness to a parenting intervention for mothers in substance abuse treatment.
abstract: This study examines the relationship between levels of psychological distress in substance-dependent mothers and their differential response to a dyadic parent-child intervention. A sample of 66 mothers who were receiving treatment for substance abuse, as well as a simultaneous parenting intervention, were interviewed pre and post-treatment on measures of psychological distress, adult and child trauma history, parental reflective functioning, and child social-emotional development. Additionally, clinicians provided assessments of the parent-child relationships. As anticipated, trauma histories for mothers and children, children's social emotional development, and parental reflective functioning were associated with aspects of maternal psychological distress. Kruskal-Wallis and subsequent Wilcoxson signed rank tests revealed that women with highest levels of baseline psychological distress showed significant improvements in psychological functioning post-treatment while women with moderately elevated levels of psychological distress did not. Women who were most distressed at baseline showed increased levels of parental reflective functioning post-treatment while women with moderate and lower levels of baseline psychological distress showed improvements on clinician-rated assessments of parent-child relationships. Chi Square analyses showed that parents who endorsed the highest levels of distress at baseline reported that their children's risk status regarding social-emotional development decreased post-treatment. Despite similarities in substance dependence, mothers in this sample had different needs and outcomes in the context of this parenting intervention due to variation in mental health. Given this variation, parenting interventions for substance-dependent mothers need to account for the individual differences in levels of psychological distress.
authors.affiliation: Boston University, School of Social Work, 264 Bay State Road, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Paris
authors.affiliation: Boston University, School of Social Work, 264 Bay State Road, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Herriott
authors.affiliation: Boston University, School of Education, 2 Silber Way, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Holt
authors.affiliation: Institute for Health and Recovery, 349 Broadway, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gould
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000517:prevention & control; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000517:prevention & control; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009034:Mother-Child Relations / Q000523:psychology*; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*; D010290:Parents / Q000193:education*; D055500:Resilience, Psychological; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000534:rehabilitation; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: Dyadic interventions; Parenting; Psychological distress; Substance abuse