Role of Maternal Reflective Ability for Substance Abusing Mothers

This paper reports on a study designed to explore factors contributing to
better outcomes for substance abusing pregnant and parenting women in residential
treatment, and, as a result, contribute to better outcomes for their children. The setting
was three live-in units focusing in supporting both abstinence from substances and
mother-child relationship. Participants were 18 mother-baby pairs in treatment from
perinatal phase to 4 months of child’s age. Pilot results demonstrated more sensitive
maternal interaction tended to be associated with higher pre-and postnatal reflective
functioning and better child developmental scores at 4 months of child’s age. Reflective
functioning (RF) refers to the essential human capacity to understand behavior in light
of underlying mental states and intentions. An indicated conclusion is that
enhancement of maternal reflective ability seems an important focus in developing the
content and effectiveness of interventions for substance abusing mothers.
KEY WORDS: substance abuse, pregnancy, motherhood, early parenting intervention