INFANT ATTACHMENT--MATERNAL TRAUMA AND DRUG USE

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DESCRIPTION: (Applicant's Abstract) The goal of this study is to better understand the nature of infant attachment to mothers who are drug using. Although previous research with small samples has suggested that children prenatally exposed to drugs are at risk for insecure and disorganized attachments, it remains unclear whether this risk derives from teratological or social factors. Such findings are of serious concern due to the close theoretical and empirical links that have been made between disorganized attachment and serious family pathology, including child maltreatment and adjustment problems. We propose to explore the following hypotheses: 1) that there will be an increased incidence of insecure and disorganized attachments in infants whose mothers have histories of serious substance abuse and 2) that the association between substance abuse and attachment can be accounted for by mothers' histories of exposure to trauma. In addition, we will examine the independent and mediating contributions to attachment of maternal dissociative symptoms, maternal resolution of attachment history, parenting behavior and beliefs, and infant temperament. The sample will include 200 12- to 18-month-old infants and their mothers. Half of the mothers will be women with a history of heroin and other substance abuse, recruited form public methadone maintenance programs. Half of the mothers will be selected from a population of families presenting for pediatric care at a community health clinic. Infant attachment will be assessed form the Ainsworth Strange Situation using Main's supplemental disorganized attachment coding category. Maternal substance use and abuse, mental health, parenting, and infant temperament will be assessed using a multi-method approach. If hypotheses are confirmed, they would suggest the need for more comprehensive family interventions for women in substance abuse treatment that include parent-child relationship services, violence counseling, and adult mental health services.