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Stress and Coping Behaviors of Substance‐Abusing Mothers
Author(s) -
Kelley Susan J.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
journal for specialists in pediatric nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.499
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1744-6155
pISSN - 1539-0136
DOI - 10.1111/j.1744-6155.1998.tb00215.x
Subject(s) - dysfunctional family , substance abuse , coping (psychology) , neglect , clinical psychology , psychiatry , psychology , distress , child abuse , medicine , poison control , suicide prevention , medical emergency
purpose . To examine parenting stress and coping behaviors in substance‐abusing and non‐substance‐abusing mothers. design. A comparative descriptive design. setting. Pediatric primary care clinic. participants. Low‐income, predominantly African‐American mothers (N = 60) of young children recruited from a pediatric primary care clinic. Thirty mothers were known substance abusers and 30 had no known history of substance abuse. main outcome measures. Parenting Stress Index/Short Form (PSI/SF) and Child Protective Service (CPS) validation of abuse or neglect. results. Substance‐abusing mothers scored significantly higher than comparison mothers on total stress and the three subscales of the PSI/SF: parent‐child dysfunctional interaction, difficult child, and parental distress. Forty‐seven percent of substance‐abusing mothers scored in the clinical range on total stress compared with only 3.3% of non‐substance‐abusing mothers. Proportionately more substance‐abusing mothers than comparisons demonstrated maladaptive parenting behaviors as evidenced by CPS‐confirmed abuse or neglect of their youngest child. conclusions. Substance‐abusing mothers of young children are at increased risk for increased levels of stress and maladaptive coping behaviors. Substance‐abusing mothers need support and monitoring in the parenting role and referrals to substance‐abuse and parenting programs.