title: Mother-Child Relational Quality of Women in Substance Abuse Treatment.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Mothers who abuse substances are more likely to have impaired parenting and lose custody of their young children.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The pilot study described mother-child relational quality of women in substance abuse treatment. The identification of mothers' perceptions of being parented, current level of depression, discrete and potentially modifiable mothering behaviors, and self-appraisals of their role.
  
  
  METHODS
  The descriptive study implemented audio-video-recorded mother-child interactions for coding.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-nine dyads participated with children age 4 weeks to 5 years. Mothers had lower levels of caring from their parents and moderate depression that was correlated with many of the relational quality behaviors. Eleven of 29 maternal behaviors were coded as concerning. Reflections by mothers revealed modest, yet confident self-appraisals of their maternal role.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Women who experienced higher depression demonstrated lower maternal quality. Some maternal behaviors were identified as less optimal although many were strengths.
authors.affiliation: 1 Linda Lewin, PhD, PMHCNS-BC, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lewin
authors.affiliation: 2 Kathleen Farkas, PhD, LISW, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Farkas
authors.affiliation: 3 Maryam Niazi, RN, MSN, PMHNP-BC, Access Ohio, Columbus, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Niazi
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008425:Maternal Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D009034:Mother-Child Relations / Q000523:psychology*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: attachment; child maltreatment; parenting; substance abuse