The role of mother's prenatal substance use disorder and early parenting on child social cognition at school age

Abstract

This prospective longitudinal study examined how maternal prenatal substance use disorder (SUD) and early mother–infant interaction quality are associated with child social cognition (emotion recognition and mentalization) at school age. A sample of 52 poly‐substance‐using mothers receiving early interventions and 50 non‐users, along with their children, was followed from pregnancy to school age. First‐year mother–infant interaction quality was measured with EA scales. At school age, child facial emotion recognition was measured with DANVA and mentalization with LEAS‐C. SUD group children did not differ from comparison children in social cognition, but higher severity of maternal prenatal addiction predicted emotion recognition problems. High early mother–infant interaction quality predicted better emotion recognition and mentalization, and mother–infant interaction quality mediated the effect of prenatal SUD on emotion recognition. The results highlight the need for early treatments targeting both parenting and addiction, as well as long‐term developmental support for these children. Highlights We examined how mother's prenatal substance use disorder (SUD) and early mother–infant interaction predict child social cognition at school age. Questionnaires, observational and computer tasks were used. Maternal prenatal addiction severity and early parenting problems predicted problematic child social cognition. Early interventions should simultaneously target addiction and parenting. Attention should also be paid to the long‐term developmental support of children.

Reflective functioning in mothers with addictions: Differential relationships involving family history of mental illness and substance use

“…This interpretation is in line with prior findings that children who experienced physical abuse (i.e., trauma accompanied by parental emotion dysregulation, inconsistency, and hostility) were highly adept at detecting subtle emotional cues (Pollak and Sinha, 2002). Similarly heightened emotion recognition and threat detection has been observed in children exposed to parental depression (Lopez-Duran et al, 2013) and substance use (Flykt et al, 2021). Overall, such hypersensitivity may help individuals predict and thereby cope with inconsistent, unpredictable, dysregulated, or confusing caregiving behavior exhibited by mothers experiencing mental illness.…”

Parental factors predicting social deviance and psychological outcomes in offspring: Evidence from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC)

“…Just as with smoking, it is difficult to pry apart the biological effect and family environment. Flykt and colleagues found that severe maternal substance use disorder predicted impaired emotion recognition in offspring (Flykt et al, 2021). However, this deficit was moderated by the quality of the mother–child relationship in infancy (Flykt et al, 2021).…”

“…Flykt and colleagues found that severe maternal substance use disorder predicted impaired emotion recognition in offspring (Flykt et al, 2021). However, this deficit was moderated by the quality of the mother–child relationship in infancy (Flykt et al, 2021). Our finding that the father's post-secondary qualification is protective against threatening others suggests that both parent relationships are important.…”

Emotional Availability: Clinical Populations and Clinical Applications

“…There is increasing evidence that mothers who use substances are likely to be less emotionally available with their children. Early maternal substance use has been found to predict lower child emotion regulation (Punamaki et al, 2021) and social cognition (Flykt et al, 2021) at school age. Furthermore, using the EA-Z, Frigerio et al (2019) found that substance-using mothers were most likely to be complicated, depressed mothers most likely to be detached, and nonat-risk mothers most likely to be emotionally available in their emotional attachments.…”