Maternal attentiveness of cocaine abusers during child-based assessments

Cocaine-abusing mothers were compared with non-cocaine-using mothers on videotaped ratings of attentiveness to their children during developmental assessments done at age 3 months (n = 64), 6 months (n = 80), 12 months (n = 90), and 18 months (n = 53). At the 3-month assessment only, cocaine-abusing women spent a lower percentage of time being attentive and made more shifts in attentiveness than did control-group mothers. These differences were not found at 6-, 12-, or 18-month assessments. Maternal attentiveness appears to be more strongly related to current depression symptoms than addiction severity in the cocaine-abusing group.