Substance abuse treatment for pregnant women: a window of opportunity?

Lifetime substance use as a predictor of postpartum mental health

“…Indeed, research suggests that pregnancy can be a period of abstinence for many women with substance use problems (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration 2014). Moreover, it is possible that screening for lifetime substance use, as opposed to current substance use, could promote disclosure by reducing barriers associated with social stigma (Daley et al 1998;Finkelstein 1994;Morrow-Tlucak et al 1989;NIDA 1997), fears of consequences (e.g., involvement of Child Protective Services, involuntary commitment, or criminal prosecution) (Lester et al 2004), or even denial (Ernhart et al 1988), thereby improving screening accuracy. Though findings of the present study are promising, the contributions of screening for lifetime substance use during antenatal and postpartum care to the identification of women at risk of PPMD need to be tested in future research.…”

How do treatment repeaters use the drug treatment system? An analysis of injection drug users in Massachusetts

“…Specifically, modalities such as long-term residential treatment, outpatient counseling, and methadone maintenance, when compared with detoxification only, are associated with more positive outcomes (Gerstein & Harwood, 1990;Hien & Scheier, 1996;Simpson & Sells, 1990). Daley, Argeriou, and McCarty (1998), in comparing 227 pregnant women with 277 nonpregnant women drug users, found that the use of outpatient and/or residential treatment services following discharge from detoxification significantly reduced the risk of subsequent detoxification admission for both groups.…”

Does pregnancy affect outcome of methadone maintenance treatment?

“…Pregnancy has often been considered to be a motivating factor for abstinence (Daley et al, 1998;Kissin et al, 2001;Sloan, 1998). While pregnancy may motivate some women to enter treatment, the increased stress of being pregnant may negate any positive effect of this motivation (Daley et al, 1998).…”

“…The majority of research on the characteristics of chemically dependent persons and the effectiveness of chemical dependency treatment programs has generally been conducted on all male or, more recently, mixed gender samples. Therefore, there is limited data on the characteristics of females in general and more specifically the pregnant population and how pregnancy affects the methadone user (Daley, Argeriou, & McCarty, 1998). Studies that have looked at gender differences in chemically dependent populations have often found that women compared to men have more severe psychological difficulties, have greater likelihood of physical and sexual abuse histories, and greater psychosocial problems (Arfken, Klein, di Menza, & Schuster, 2001;Brown, Melchior, Waite-O'Brien, & Huba, 2002;Chatham, Hiller, RowanSzal, Joe, & Simpson, 1999;Marcus, Hans, Patterson, & Morris, 1984).…”