The Role of Mother's Prenatal Substance Use Disorder and Early Parenting on Child Social Cognition at School Age

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.