Abstract
The abuse of alcohol and other substances by mothers raising adolescent children has serious adverse effects on family functioning and youth outcomes, and on mothers’ own health and adaptation. Mothers who are also HIV-infected face additional challenges. In the present report, we describe a multi-session intervention conducted in individual sessions for mothers with alcohol and other substance use problems who are raising adolescent children. We outline the primary components of the intervention and include case studies and examples of exercises and tools. We found that engagement with the intervention and high rates of attendance were facilitated by tapping into mothers’ desires to improve their relationships with their adolescent children, the use of a harm reduction approach toward substance use, and intensive outreach. We also discuss lessons learned in the course of implementing and evaluating the intervention.
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Acknowledgments
We would like to express our appreciation to the women who participated in the study; project staff members Katherine Aracena, Natalie Brumblay, Tri Cisek, Mindy Finkelstein, Karla Gostnell, Carol Moorer, Maria Elena Ramos, Amanda Ritchie, Lauren Rotko, Alberta Springer, and Maya Tharaken; the Center for Drug Use and HIV Research, Sherry Deren, Ph.D., Robert Freeman, Ph.D., and Kendall Bryant, Ph.D. for their assistance; and Jennifer K. Brown for editorial assistance. This study was supported by a grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (R01-12113) to the second author.
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Leonard, N.R., Gwadz, M.V., Arredondo, G.N. et al. Description of a Behavioral Intervention to Reduce Substance Use and Related Risk and Increase Positive Parenting among Urban Mothers with Alcohol and Other Drug Problems. J Child Fam Stud 16, 531–544 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-006-9104-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-006-9104-3