A 2-year prospective study of psychological distress among a national cohort of pregnant women in opioid maintenance treatment and their partners

Abstract

Background: The prevalence of psychological distress among persons in opioid maintenance treatments (OMT) is high. It is important to assess psychological distress among OMT mothers and their partners because such psychological distress increases the risk of relapse to substance use.

Methods: A national cohort of pregnant women in OMT (n = 37) and their partners (n = 23) were taking part in a prospective study. They were interviewed during third trimester of pregnancy and 1 year after giving birth with the European Addiction Severity Index and completed Symptom Checklist 25 during the last month of pregnancy, 6 months and 2 years after the children were born.

Results: Among the women there was a significant reduction in depressive symptoms from pregnancy to 6 months after giving birth (p < 0.01) and an increase in depressive symptoms from 6 months to 2 years after giving birth. Among the partners there was a significant decrease in psychological distress from pregnancy to 1 year after the children were born (p < 0.05).

Conclusion: The overall results indicate a reduction in psychological distress for both OMT women and their male partners during the first period after birth, probably affecting parenting abilities and treatment outcome in a positive way.

• Pregnant women
• opioid maintenance treatment
• psychological distress
• prospective
• partners

Acknowledgements

Hendree Jones, Associate Professor and Research Director at the Center for Addiction and Pregnancy, Johns Hopkins Medicine, for valuable help in reading and commenting on the manuscript.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.