Substance Abusive Mothers

    A ten year study was performed on mothers who abused alcohol and other illicit drugs during the nine months of their pregnancy. This specific study focused on the children and the mother’s characteristics that may be tied to different behavioral problems. The mothers’ mean age was 38 and the women were mostly white or Hispanic. About 16% of the mothers abused alcohol, 8% abused cocaine, 12% abused heroin, 8% abused marijuana, and 43% abused methamphetamine. A large amount of these mothers had mental health problems, previous psychiatric treatment, and severe conflicts with other individuals.

    The children of the substance abused mothers were tested in regards to the Child Behavior Checklist. Around 22% of the children’s scores were above the clinical cut off.  It was seen that the children’s behavior was tied to the lack of a family and social relationship, as well as their medical and mental health. Also, children’s scores were related to their mothers’ race. It was seen that white children had the most problems, and then followed black, Hispanic, Asian and others. The scores between white and black mothers were insignificant. Although children of Asian ethnicity were lower of a risk for such problems, the difference between the other ethnic groups and Asians were insignificant as the study went on.
    The study found that either drug or alcohol use was foretelling of the children’s behaviors. Poor maternal mental health and unsupportive relationships are higher risk factors for the child’s behaviors, even though alcohol and drug use may contribute to the effects on the mothers’ health and relationships. It is well known that support, consistency, and affection are all not associated with stress and negative behavioral outcomes. Hispanics are seen to be better at this then Caucasians are. Studies of adolescents of the black and white ethnicities have seen a connection between whites being more concerned with fitting in versus blacks and being more open to negative role modeling. 

Hser, Y-I, E. Evans, L. Li, A. Metchik- Gaddis, and N. Messina. "Children of Treated Substance-abusing
Mothers: A 10-year Prospective Study." Sage (2013): 1-17.PubMed. Web. 17 May 2013. <http://ccp.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/05/13/1359104513486999>.