Stress and coping behaviors of substance-abusing mothers.

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 behaviours 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.