Examining the Association between Executive Functions, Parenting Stress, and Psychological Distress in Mothers with Problematic Substance Abuse

Abstract

According to a growing body of research, executive functions play a significant role in effective
and responsive parenting. There has been no research on this link among mothers who have a
drug or alcohol issue, who may be more sensitive due to biological, psychological, and
contextual variables that impair executive function and increase parenting stress. The
researchers were looking for a link between three executive functions and parenting stress.
Sixty-five moms in drug addiction treatment conducted tasks that tested updating, inhibition,
and shifting executive functions, as well as surveys that assessed parental stress, demonstrating
that the concept can be described as both relationship and home upheaval. After controlling for
SES and the age of the youngest child, worse performance on both inhibition and updating
tasks was related with increased parental stress when a relational definition was utilized. There
were no significant associations between executive functions and home chaos definitions of
parental stress after adjusting for depression and SES. These preliminary data suggest that
executive functions play a role in parenting stress among moms who abuse substances, but they
also highlight the need of considering the type of executive function assessed and the measure
of parenting stress utilized. Future research directions are discussed, as well as clinical
implications.