Characteristics Of Maternal-Infant Interaction During Treatment For Opioid Withdrawal

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe the interactions between mothers in a methadone treatment program and their infants during a bottle feeding and compare the findings with normed data.Design: A comparative-descriptive design was used.Sample: Data from 12 opiate-exposed mother-infant dyads were compared with normed data.Main outcome variable: Nursing Child Assessment Satellite-Training Scale scores.Results: The opiate-exposed dyads scored significantly lower than the normed dyads in the infant subscales of clarity of cues (p < .001, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.56-4.08) and responsiveness to caregiver (p < .01, 95% CI, 0.27-2.5), as well as the total score (p < .001, 95% CI, 2.42-6.15). Parent sensitivity to infant cues subscale (p < .01, 95% CI, 0.42-2.37) and parent contingency score (p < .01, 95% CI, 0.55-3.81) were also significantly lower. The cognitive growth fostering subscale scores were significantly higher in the neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) group (p < .01, 95% CI, -2.94 to -0.7).