What is it about?
This study is part of a national (Norwegian) follow-up of 38 infants exposed to methadone or buprenorphine prenatally and 36 low-risk comparison infants. The goal was to evaluate the quality of the mother–infant relationship when the infants were 6 months old using videotaped interactions.
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Why is it important?
The only factor significantly contributing to the outcome measure “dyadic mutuality” was maternal style. The significance of group membership (exposed versus non-exposed) decreased when considering maternal drug use prior to opioid maintenance treatment, maternal depression, parenting stress, as well as infants’ developmental status and sensory-integrative functions.
Perspectives
These results support the idea that methadone and buprenorphine use per se does not have direct influence on the quality of early mother–infant relationship. Rather, tailored follow-upprocedures targeting drug-free pregnancies and parenting support are beneficial for women in opioid maintenance treatment and their children.
Professor Lars Smith
University of Oslo
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Risks and realities: Dyadic interaction between 6-month-old infants and their mothers in opioid maintenance treatment, Infant Behavior and Development, December 2011, Elsevier,
DOI: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2011.06.006.
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