Psychiatric aspects of substance use disorders in childbearing populations

Prevention and treatment research in the field of perinatal addiction is at a point of high activity. At the same time, the fields of psychiatry and addiction treatment are undergoing a process of rapprochement. Psychiatrists have a knowledge base and unique perspective of value in framing questions that must be addressed in our quest for knowledge about substance use disorders in the child-bearing population. In particular, detailed studies of psychiatric comorbidity, psychosocial characteristics associated with anticipated or actual pregnancy as a motivation for abstinence, treatment entry and recovery, and treatment approaches to past and ongoing victimization in the chemically dependent pregnant population are priorities.