MATERNAL EGO DEVELOPMENT AND MOTHER-INFANT INTERACTION IN DRUG-ABUSING WOMEN

The purpose of this study was to expand our knowledge about factors in substance-abusing women, other than chronic drug abuse, that may infl uence maternal caregiving behaviors. Specifically, the study explored relationships between maternal characteristics and mother-infant inter action in a sample of drug-abusing woolen to determine whether drug-ad dicted mothers' level of ego development affected mother-infant intera ction at 1 month. Data collection occurred during a prenatal lab visit and 1 month postpartum and included a clinical interview, self-report on participants' addiction severity, clinical personality inventory, ego development test, and videotaped observation of mother-infant feed ing interactions. Only ego development, and to a lesser degree psychol ogical symptoms associated with substance abuse, were found to be sign ificant predictors of maternal-child interaction at I month. This poin ts to the need to focus on building internal resources in providing su bstance abuse treatment and other services for substance-abusing mothe rs. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Inc.