MATERNAL ATTENTIVENESS OF COCAINE ABUSERS DURING CHILD-BASED ASSESSMENTS

Cocaine-abusing mothers were compared with non-cocaine-using mothers o n videotaped ratings of attentiveness to their children during develop mental assessments done at age 3 months (n = 64), 6 months (n = 80), 1 2 months (n = 90), and 18 months (n = 53). At the 3-month assessment o nly, cocaine-abusing women spent a lower percentage of time being atte ntive and made more shifts in attentiveness than did control-group mot hers. These differences were not found at 6-, 12-, or 18-month assessm ents. Maternal attentiveness appears to be more strongly related to cu rrent depression symptoms than addiction severity in the cocaine-abusi ng group.