Social Support: A Key to Positive Parenting Outcomes for Mothers in Residential Drug Treatment with Their Children

This study explored parenting experiences of ten mothers residing with their young children in four residential drug treatment facilities in New York City and how these experiences related to the perceived support of the social environment of the facility. Through the lenses of the self-in-relations theory and family-centered service model, the study examined the supportive function of the treatment program including the program structure, the staff, and fellow mothers in affecting the mothers' parenting experience and outcomes. Programmatic, policy, and research implications of the study's findings are discussed. (C) 2006 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.