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Copyright of Barn: Forskning om Barn og Barndom i Norden is the property of Cappelen Damm Akademisk and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The aim of the study was to explore young people's perceptions and reflections about growing up with parents who have substance use disorder (SUD). In qualitative interviews with 12 young people (aged 13–26) and in an interpretative phenomenological analysis, we investigated their experiences of everyday life, of the relationships with the parents with SUD, and of conversations about this, both retrospectively and at the present. The findings indicated that the relationships with the parents largely occupied the informants, even when they lived separately from the parent and were protected from the daily exposure of substance use. The informants described their mixed and contradictory emotions towards their parents and the struggle to determine regulation and type of contact. They asked for professional support in order to help them cope with this. Sociocultural discourses concerning family life and substance use were discussed in an attempt to understand the findings. The findings of the study suggest that children and young people should be offered sufficient professional support in order to cope with their mixed and contradictory emotions and to determine the regularity and type of contact with the parents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the experience of motherhood among 14 women with mental health problems. The aim is to discuss the subjective meaning of being a mother with mental health problems through the perspective of structural factors such as discourses on motherhood and mental illness. The article shows how these mothers are caught in a bind between the discourses of mentally ill mothers as “deviant” and the current ideology of “intensive mothering.” The empirical material reveals two main, interwoven patterns of identity work: the struggle for normality, and how to handle a self-identity as a “dangerous” mother. The mothers understood the stress and difficulties they experienced as personal problems, resulting in self-blaming, feelings of loneliness, and a resistance towards expressing a need for help with parenting issues. The findings suggest that understanding these mothers’ ambivalence towards intervention as a kind of complex identity work—rather than as reluctance to receive help, or denial of their own problems—might be a way for professional helpers to build a confident relationship with mentally ill mothers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Substance-dependent mothers, who have grown up with parental substance abuse, struggle during and after treatment to abstain from substances while trying to process traumatic experiences and integrate their family into society. The aim of this study was to explore the social support available for these mothers to help them stay abstinent and create safe family environments for themselves and their children. Using purposeful sampling, we approached nine mothers admitted for 1 year to a family ward at a substance abuse clinic and their significant others. Through in-depth, qualitative interviews, first with the mothers, later with their significant others, we investigated characteristics of the available social support. The findings indicated that the significant others had limited resources and were themselves exposed to adverse and cumulative psychosocial and socioeconomic risk factors. Their relationships with the mothers were, nevertheless, close, consistent and reliable. Supporting the existing social network should be an integrated part of the work of family welfare services aiming to help substance-dependent mothers from families with parental substance abuse to rehabilitate and to integrate successfully into local communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Dual treatment of parents with substance-use disorders (SUD) is an approach which aims to meet the needs of both SUD patients and their children. Whereas the parents need to learn to live without substances, the children need a predictable and structured environment with parents who are sensitive and psychologically available. In this study we explore the possibilities and challenges of this joint approach from the perspectives of professionals employed in an in-patient facility for families with parental SUD., Methods: A qualitative design was used comprising three focus-group interviews with 15 professionals: two groups with ward staff and one with therapists, all working at a family ward for parents with SUD and their children. Data were analysed using thematic analysis., Results: Professionals faced difficulties combining the needs of parents and children and seemed to choose to prioritise either the adult with SUD or the wellbeing of the child. However, some professionals described what might be a third and alternative solution by supporting the mothers in everyday life, routines, and care, through exploring present moment situations. This approach seemed to help parents become more conscious of the child, their interaction with the child, and their own feelings. Professionals described working at the family ward as emotionally challenging., Conclusion: Combining treatment of parental SUD, interventions to improve parenting roles and practice, and at the same time focusing on the developmental needs of children, is experienced as a complex and demanding task. Different priorities and treatment aims may enhance tensions between professionals. Even though professionals experience in-patient dual treatment as challenging, they believe this approach facilitates positive development in substance dependent parents and their children., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interests: The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article., (© The Author(s) 2018.)

Although it is well documented that maternal substance abuse has a negative effect on the mother-child interaction, less is known about the pathways through which the interaction is compromised. The main objective of this research proposal is to describe an ongoing research project that focuses on associations between maternal executive function and the quality of mother-infant interaction when the mother has a history of substance abuse. We will also investigate the effects of multiple variables, including maternal relationship experiences, personality disposition, parental stress, comorbid mental illness, and addiction severity, on the dyadic interaction and child functioning. A group of 40-50 mothers with substance abuse problems and their infants aged 6-18 months will be included. The mothers will be assessed with neuropsychological tests, clinical interviews, self-administered questionnaires, and dyadic interaction observations as well as observation and assessment of child functioning. We will use a cross-sectional correlational design. The inclusion of the participants will end in October 2015. Further knowledge about the variables that are important for the mother-infant relationship can inform future research and clinical practice.