Perinatal women in substance use disorder treatment: Interest in partnering with family and friends to support recovery needs

Abstract

Background

Perinatal women treated for substance use disorder (SUD) face considerable barriers to recovery that might be ameliorated through activation of community support.

Objectives

This descriptive study evaluated the presence of drug-free family and friends in the social networks of perinatal women treated for SUD. It also assessed the interest of these women to partner with network members to mobilize support across several recovery needs.

Methods

Social network interviews were conducted with 40 pre- and post-partum women treated at the Center for Addiction and Pregnancy (CAP) in Baltimore, Maryland. These interviews also prompted participants to consider which network members to invite to the program to support recovery efforts.

Results

Study participants reported that their personal social networks included 4.4 drug-free adults. An overwhelming majority (80%) of participants reported a willingness to invite at least one person to the CAP program. Participants also endorsed several opportunities for collaboration between the program and community support.

Conclusions

These findings suggest that treatment program guided activation of network support offers a testable strategy to help perinatal women reduce barriers to recovery and improve treatment outcomes.

Keywords:

• Perinatal women
• substance use disorder
• social support
• social network

Acknowledgments

We are thankful for the patients who supported this work and participated in the study. We are also thankful for the outstanding commitment, skill, and integrity of the CAP clinical staff and our clinical research team, including Kori A. Kindbom, M.S., Michael Sklar, M.A., Jennifer Mucha, M.A., and Rachel Burns, B.A.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported through NIH-NIDA funding to R34 DA042320 (M. Kidorf, PI). The sponsoring agency had no role in the design and analysis of the study, or review or writing of the report. The opinions expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not represent the official position of the U.S. government.