Work

Cocaine addiction in mothers

Year: 2010

Type: review

Abstract: Maternal cocaine addiction is a significant public health issue particularly affecting children, with high rates of reported abuse, neglect, and foster care placement. This review examines both preclinical and clinical evidence for how cocaine abuse may affect maternal care and infant development, exploring brain, behavioral, and neuroendocrine mechanisms. There is evidence that cocaine affects infant development both directly, via in utero exposure, and indirectly via alterations in maternal care. Two neural systems known to play an important role in both maternal care and cocaine addiction are the oxytocin and dopamine systems, mediating social and reward-related behaviors and stress reactivity. These same neural mechanisms may also be involved in the infant's development of vulnerability to addiction. Understanding the neuroendocrine pathways involved in maternal behavior and addiction may help facilitate earlier, more effective interventions to help substance-abusing mothers provide adequate care for their infant and perhaps prevent the intergenerational transmission of risk.

Source: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

DOI: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.05142.x

Authors: Lane Strathearn, Linda C. Mayes

Institutions: Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children's Hospital, Yale University

Language: English

Topic: Prenatal Substance Exposure Effects

Subfield: Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Center for Research Resources, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development