Although it is known that mothers with substance-use disorders struggle to provide adequate parenting to their children, little is understood about the mechanisms behind this. This cross-sectional study uses an attachment perspective to examine whether reflective functioning mediates the relationship between mental representations of caregiving and maternal sensitivity, in an ethnically diverse sample of 142 substance-dependent mothers (M = 29.81, SD = 5.85 years of age) and their toddlers (M = 24.04, SD = 15.15 months of age). Data were baseline measures from 2 randomized controlled trials. The 3 variables of primary interest were positively correlated. As expected, there was a significant relationship between mental representations of caregiving and maternal sensitivity that was largely explained by reflective functioning. Confounding and alternate explanations were not supported by secondary data analyses. The findings underscore the importance of reflective functioning in positive parenting within this high-risk population of mothers, and they provide support for the development of attachment-based interventions.

中文翻译：

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在高风险样本中，母体反射功能是否介导了照料表征与母体敏感性之间的关联？

虽然众所周知，患有物质使用障碍的母亲努力为孩子提供足够的养育方式，但对其背后的机制知之甚少。这项横断面研究使用依恋视角来检查反思功能是否在 142 名物质依赖母亲（M = 29.81，SD = 5.85 岁）的种族多样化样本中调节了照料的心理表征与母亲敏感性之间的关系，以及他们的幼儿（M = 24.04，SD = 15.15 个月大）。数据是来自 2 项随机对照试验的基线测量值。主要关注的 3 个变量呈正相关。正如预期的那样，照顾的心理表征和母亲的敏感性之间存在显着关系，这在很大程度上可以通过反思功能来解释。二级数据分析不支持混杂和替代解释。研究结果强调了反思功能在这一高危母亲群体中积极养育的重要性，并为基于依恋的干预措施的发展提供了支持。