Eiden

Dr. Rina Eiden first completed a cross sectional study that resulted in two papers. The first provided descriptive data about the caregiving environment of substance exposed children (Eiden, Peterson, & Coleman, 1999). The second suggested that exposure to violence is one of the most significant predictors of child behavior problems among these children (Eiden, 1999). Next, a short-term longitudinal study was completed. Mother-infant dyads were recruited at birth and followed for the first year of the infant's life, with assessments at 2, 7, and 13 months. This study resulted in three publications. The first focused on the quality of mother-infant feeding interactions at 2 months and demonstrated that cocaine using mothers were more negative in their interactive style during feeding interactions with their infants. Other risk factors such as a more negative infant temperament, lower gestational age, and maternal use of other substances also contributed to more negative parenting behavior (Eiden, 2001). The second paper examined the association between prenatal substance exposure and infant behavior suggesting that maternal cocaine and other substance use (alcohol and cigarettes) was associated with problems in arousal regulation at 2 and 7 months of age (Eiden, Lewis, Croff, & Young, 2002). The third paper examined the association between maternal substance use and perception of infant cry sounds varying in pitch. Results indicated that substance-using mothers rated cries as less perceptually salient and less likely to elicit active caregiving responses. These results suggest that maternal substance use is associated with altered perceptions of infant distress signals (Schuetze, Zeskind, & Eiden, 2003). The fourth paper examined the development of motor assymetries among cocaine exposed infants. (Schuetze, Croff, & Eiden, 2003). Funded by a grant of $428,466 from the NIDA, 1995-2001.