Maternal cognitive functioning and psychopathology predict quality of parent-child relationship in the context of substance use disorder: A 15-month longitudinal study

This longitudinal study aimed to investigate the role of maternal cognitive functioning and psychopathology in parent-child relationship quality during residential treatment for mothers with Substance Use Disorder (SUD), in order to identify factors that may enhance or limit intervention effects. We assessed cognitive functioning (Esame Neuropsicologico Breve-2 [ENB-2]) and psychopathology (Symptom Checklist-90 Revised [SCL-90-R]) in 60 mothers diagnosed with SUD (Mage = 30.13 yrs; SD = 6.79) at treatment admission. Parent-child relationship quality was measured during free-play interactions using the Emotional Availability Scales every three months from admission (Child Mage = 17.17m; SD = 23.60) to the 15th month of the residential treatment. A main effect of maternal psychopathology and an interaction effect of time and cognitive functioning were found. More maternal psychopathology predicted lower mother-child relationship quality. Mothers with higher cognitive functioning presented a better treatment trajectory, with an increase in mother-child relationship quality, whereas mothers with lower cognitive functioning showed a decrease in relationship quality after initial improvement. These findings suggest that maternal psychopathology and cognitive functioning may influence the treatment of parent-child relationships in the context of SUD, although causality is not yet established. Implications for assessment and intervention are discussed.