Martha Canfield1, Sam Norton2, Johnny Downs3, Gail Gilchrist4. 1. Department of Psychology, Health Psychology Section, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK. Electronic address: Martha.canfield@kcl.ac.uk. 2. Department of Psychology, Health Psychology Section, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK; Department of Inflammation Biology, Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, King's College London, London, UK. 3. Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK. 4. National Addiction Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, UK.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Many women receiving substance use treatment services are mothers. Despite this, research has not proved whether substance use treatment services are addressing the specific needs of mothers. This study explored differences in sociodemographic, psychological, patterns of substance use, and treatment characteristics between mothers and women without children, and between mothers whose children were in alternative care. METHOD: The study extracted data from electronic patient records (EPRs) of women who attended South London and Maudsley (SLaM) National Health Services (NHS) Foundation Trust addiction services between 2013 and 2020 (N = 4370). RESULTS: The study identified 1730 participants (39.6%) as mothers, of whom 1340 (77.4%) had dependent children. The average number of births was 1.83 (SD = 1.0). Of the participants, 54.3% of mothers did not disclose whether their dependent child(ren) was under their care and 37.5% of mothers indicated that at least one of their child(ren) was in alternative care. Alcohol was the most reported type of substance used in the past 28 days. Mothers also highly reported suicide attempts and hospitalization due to mental health problems. Compared to women without children, mothers were more likely to be young, experience housing problems, use opioids and/or crack-cocaine in the past 28 days and experience lifetime domestic violence victimizations. Mothers were also less likely to have alcohol-related problems, experience overdose, and social isolation than women without children. CONCLUSION: The study highlights the need for substance use services to invest in approaches to improve mothers' disclosure of parenting and childcare issues. It also demonstrates that EPRs can identify key characteristics of mothers.
BACKGROUND: Many women receiving substance use treatment services are mothers. Despite this, research has not proved whether substance use treatment services are addressing the specific needs of mothers. This study explored differences in sociodemographic, psychological, patterns of substance use, and treatment characteristics between mothers and women without children, and between mothers whose children were in alternative care. METHOD: The study extracted data from electronic patient records (EPRs) of women who attended South London and Maudsley (SLaM) National Health Services (NHS) Foundation Trust addiction services between 2013 and 2020 (N = 4370). RESULTS: The study identified 1730 participants (39.6%) as mothers, of whom 1340 (77.4%) had dependent children. The average number of births was 1.83 (SD = 1.0). Of the participants, 54.3% of mothers did not disclose whether their dependent child(ren) was under their care and 37.5% of mothers indicated that at least one of their child(ren) was in alternative care. Alcohol was the most reported type of substance used in the past 28 days. Mothers also highly reported suicide attempts and hospitalization due to mental health problems. Compared to women without children, mothers were more likely to be young, experience housing problems, use opioids and/or crack-cocaine in the past 28 days and experience lifetime domestic violence victimizations. Mothers were also less likely to have alcohol-related problems, experience overdose, and social isolation than women without children. CONCLUSION: The study highlights the need for substance use services to invest in approaches to improve mothers' disclosure of parenting and childcare issues. It also demonstrates that EPRs can identify key characteristics of mothers.
Authors: Florien Meulewaeter; Elisabeth De Schauwer; Sarah S W De Pauw; Wouter Vanderplasschen Journal: Front Psychiatry Date: 2022-02-02 Impact factor: 4.157