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Emotional availability and psychosocial correlates among mothers in substance‐abuse treatment and their young infants
Author(s) -
Goldman Fraser Jenifer,
HarrisBritt April,
Leone Thakkallapalli Erin,
KurtzCostes Beth,
Martin Sandra
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
infant mental health journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.693
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 1097-0355
pISSN - 0163-9641
DOI - 10.1002/imhj.20239
Subject(s) - psychosocial , clinical psychology , substance abuse , psychology , depression (economics) , psychiatry , psychological abuse , substance use , depressive symptoms , child abuse , medicine , injury prevention , poison control , anxiety , environmental health , economics , macroeconomics
Emotional availability (EA) was investigated among low‐income mothers enrolled in substance‐abuse treatment and their young infants ( n = 21) compared with a demographically matched group of mother–infant pairs who, by self‐report, were not at risk for substance abuse ( n = 27). The mother–infant dyads in the treatment group generally demonstrated poorer EA functioning than those in the comparison group, but few differences between the groups on individual dimensions of EA were significant. This finding was notable considering that mothers in treatment reported significantly higher levels of depressive symptoms and psychological stress. Treatment effects may have buffered the negative impact of depression and psychological stress on mothers' EA scores. The clinical implications of the findings are discussed as they relate to substance‐abuse‐treatment services for pregnant and parenting women.