Session: Promoting Parent/Child Mental Health & Recovery from Substance Use Disorder: Insights from Research and Practice (Society for Social Work and Research 28th Annual Conference - Recentering & Democratizing Knowledge: The Next 30 Years of Social Work Science)

Parents in recovery from substance use and/or mental health disorders often struggle to balance their individual needs with those of their children, which can impact the maintenance of safe and stable environments for families. Addressing recovery-related and mental health challenges among new and experienced parents requires innovative interventions, careful, varied analytical approaches across the continuum of care, and consideration of the biopsychosocial experiences of children and parents. Aligned with the Society for Social Work and Research theme to center communities, the goal of this symposium is to bring together diverse social work research that promotes the mental health and recovery of parents and children. The presentations explore behavioral and community-based interventions across ecological systems, addressing both substance use disorder and mental health. By providing a comprehensive understanding of the issues and highlighting different approaches and perspectives, the symposium aims to further effective interventions to support the mental health of families.

Paper 1 is a behavioral intervention, baby wearing, to improve mother-infant attachment among mothers with opioid use disorder. Researchers investigated the impact of the intervention (babywearing), and total hours spent babywearing in the first 3 months postpartum, on urges to use substances within 9 months of delivery. Findings indicated that the intervention, and specifically babywearing for at least 30 minutes a day, was associated with reduced risk of urge to use substances postpartum, a factor associated with relapse.

Paper 2, a qualitative study, found that parents in early recovery from substance use disorder (SUD) described relationships with children as "evolving" during recovery, moving from "standoffish" to "trusting," and "learning to parent differently" from their own parents. Essentially, children are motivators for recovery from SUD. Parent experiences lead to important implications for social workers, who can shape and facilitate recovery supports that maintain safe and stable environments for families.

Paper 3 involves an integrated perinatal care program to address behavioral health disparities. The project led to a comprehensive database documenting all relevant health and social service providers and engaged in outreach and clinical quality improvement trainings across the state of Florida. The program combats the structural and interpersonal determinants of health to enhance perinatal health equity within the state.

Paper 4 is related to infant mental health home visiting and the buffering effect of methylation on infant mental health. Methylation is an epigenetic mechanism thought to be linked to environmental stress and adversity. Findings demonstrated a significant interaction effect of IMH-HV treatment on the relationship between children's methylation and their parent-reported socioemotional competence. In sum, supporting parent-infant relational health buffers infant stress.

During the symposium, an expert discussant will analyze these findings and provide recommendations on how social workers can create and apply more sensitive and effective evidence-based interventions for parents and their young children across systems of care and in consideration of salient biopsychosocial factors. By highlighting these different approaches and perspectives, the symposium aims to promote the development of effective interventions to support parents and children through rigorous research methods.