Influence of negative childhood experiences on psychological functioning, social support, and parenting for mothers recovering from addiction

Objective: This study was conducted with mothers recovering from drug and alcohol addiction and had three aims: first, to understand the range of negative childhood events these mothers experienced; second, to understand their current level of distress and their parenting experiences; and third, to examine the relationships between negative childhood events and parenting experiences. Method: Forty-six mothers participated in a cross-sectional exploratory study and completed a range of self-report measures, including the Child Abuse and Trauma Scale, Social Support Inventory, CES-D, Parenting Stress Index, and the Parenting Scale. Results: When compared to norming samples these mothers reported significantly higher levels of aversive childhood experiences, psychological distress, parenting stress and use of problematic parenting behaviors along with lower levels of social support. Higher levels of neglect and growing up in a negative home environment were significantly correlated with lower levels of social support from the family, higher levels of distress and parenting stress, and greater use of problematic parenting behaviors. Conclusion: For this sample there is a greater incidence of aversive childhood experiences and greater problems with maternal functioning. Mothers recovering from addiction have an additional need for clinical attention towards issues of recovery from childhood abuse and responding to parenting difficulties with their own children.