10.1177/0145445503259486 BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION / March 2004 Donohue / CHILD NEGLECT AND DRUG ABUSE Coexisting Child Neglect and Drug Abuse in Young Mothers Specific Recommendations for Treatment Based on a Review of the Outcome Literature BRAD DONOHUE University of Nevada Although perpetrators of child neglect often abuse illicit substances, treatment outcome eval- uations in drug-abusing young mothers who have been found to neglect their children are con- spicuously absent. Problem-solving interventions and family-based therapies that include skill acquisition components have demonstrated effectiveness in substance-abusing adolescents and child-neglecting mothers. The purpose of this article is (a) to review studies that have examined the relationship of drug abuse and child neglect, (b) to review clinical treatments that appear to be effective in both perpetrators of child neglect and drug-abusing adolescents, and (c) to integrate empirically validated drug abuse and child neglect interventions for use in adolescent mothers who have been found to abuse drugs and neglect their children. Keywords: child neglect; drug abuse; treatment; intervention; review CHILD NEGLECT IN YOUNG MOTHERS The annual number of reports of child maltreatment in the United States is about 3 million, or 40 cases per 1,000 children (McCurdy & Daro, 1993). Child neglect, including (a) physical neglect (e.g., refusal or delay in seeking health care, inadequate hygiene, poor nutrition/diet, inadequate supervision, and household safety and sanitation), (b) emotional neglect (e.g., failure to pro- vide attention/affection, violence or use of drugs in front of child), and (c) educational neglect (e.g., allowing chronic truancy, failure to promote educational activities, failure to enroll child in school if at mandatory school age, inattention to special education needs) is the 206 BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION, Vol. 28 No. 2, March 2004 206-233 DOI: 10.1177/0145445503259486 © 2004 Sage Publications at UNIV OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS LIB on October 27, 2015 bmo.sagepub.com Downloaded from