Roles of Maternal Substance Use, Posttraumatic Stress, and Parenting Practices in Predicting Child Conduct Problems

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common problem among women with substance use concerns. Further, both PTSD and substance use are related to increased risk for conduct problems among women’s children. Research has not examined how PTSD and substance use concurrently relate to conduct problems when they are comorbid. This exploratory study examines a path model explaining the relationship of maternal PTSD, substance use severity, and children’s conduct problems, when accounting for the role of parenting practices. Participants were 99 mothers (mean age = 31.11 years, children’s mean age = 7.06 years) who were seeking treatment services for substance use. Analyses examined independent variables of self-report measures of frequency of use prior to treatment for 10 substances; PTSD; positive parenting; and parental involvement. The outcome variable examined was maternal report of child conduct problems. Bivariate results showed that maternal PTSD symptoms and substance use severity were both positively and significantly related to child conduct problems. Further, positive parenting was negatively and significantly related to child conduct problems. In a multivariate model, PTSD and positive parenting remained significant predictors of child conduct problems, while substance use severity and parental involvement were not significantly related to child conduct problems. Findings indicate a need for comprehensive services capable of assessing and addressing PTSD among mothers seeking substance use treatment. This type of comprehensive treatment could be especially important for promoting the well-being of children and mental health for mothers with substance use problems and, consequently, for the dyad mother-child and families.