Demographic Differences between Mothers with and without Substance Use Disorders

Abstract

The present study investigates the demographic differences between mothers with Substance Use Disorders (SUD) (n=67) and mothers without (n=84). The data was collected as part of a larger study that aimed to identify differences in brain activity between the two groups when looking at happy and sad faces of their own and unknown infants. Age of the mother, ethnicity, mother’s education level, employment, annual family income, and marital status were collected for each participant in both groups via a self-report questionnaire. The differences between groups on all of these variables, except for age, was statistically significant. This finding indicates that brain activation results need to be adjusted for these factors, in order to determine differences solely related to drug use. Further, it may imply that these demographic variables are themselves risk factors for the development of SUDs.