Maternal Substance Abuse: Infant Psychiatric Interest: A Review and a Hypothetical Model of Interaction

Abstract

Substance abuse problems have strongly increased among Finnish women during the last decade. The negative effects that maternal substance abuse is thought to have on the quality of early mother-baby interaction are an area of interest and concern to specialists in infant mental health. During pregnancy and the newborn period of the infant, substance-abusing women have been shown to be especially willing and able to reduce use once the problem is identified. The desire to stop abusing substances appears to be predicated on a strong desire to be a good mother to the child. Interventions that focus on abstaining during pregnancy and on the early mother-child relationship have shown promise in helping these mothers improve the developmental prognosis of the child and become better parents through sobriety.