Research methodology: principles, approaches, and applications

Substance Abuse a. Summary: The title of the article is "Mother-Infant Interaction at 12 Months in Prenatally Cocaine-Exposed Children" by Ikechukwu Ukeje, Margaret Bendersky and Michael Lewis. The introduction focuses upon a study done with children who have been exposed to Cocaine before birth and their mothers, in order to determine the possible effects of such abuse on their development and personality. In addition to the physical risk factors of drug exposure, children of cocaine using mothers are also at environmental and emotional risk later during their lives.

The study focused on African-American mothers. The method section describes the methodology of letting mothers play with children and then separating them from the children for a period of two minutes. The percentage of mothers who used cocaine before the birth was 44%, while 56% did not. The cocaine-using group was further divided by frequency of use. In terms of the mothers, environmental risk factors such as stress, social support, and educational level were measured, while the children's data in terms of neonatal medical condition were measured. The results indicate that there are significant differences between the groups in terms of environmental risk and neonatal medical risk. Significantly, children exposed to cocaine were three times more likely to ignore their mothers' departure than those who were not exposed. The discussion notes that there is very little difference in mother/child interaction among the groups. The significant difference lies in the children's reactions when the mothers leave the room. Cocaine-using mothers tended to provide more verbal interaction. In conclusion, it is found that children at 12 months from both groups do not display significant differences in behavior and development. The ignoring behavior can be the result of mothers being unable to accurately reading social interactive cues or ignoring their children while under the influence of drugs.

b. Comprehensiveness of Research: A population of 112 African-American mother-infant pairs were used, 44% of which were cocaine users during and some after the birth of their children. The study was therefore not very comprehensive or diverse in terms of population size. Furthermore, the study focused only on a population of children of one particular stage of life. However, the test methods are fairly comprehensive and indicate valid outcomes.

c. Design and Methods: Mothers and children were taken into a room and told to play. There were a number of toys available for the play session. After some time playing, mothers were removed from the room and the children's behavior observed for a period of 2 minutes, before the mothers were returned. Various tables denoted the results of these interactions in terms of verbal interaction, separation reactions, and other variables.

d. Method of Analysis: The data were analyzed by means of a comparative table. The group of mothers were divided into two main groups: those who exposed their unborn children to cocaine, and those who did not. The group who did use the drug during pregnancy were further divided according to the severity of their usage.

e. Findings: The findings were that non-exposed children at 12 months did not show significant variation in terms of interactions with their mothers than cocaine exposed children of the same age. The main difference was in the reaction of children to the separation period.

A f.

Limitations: The main limitations of the study lie in the population size and age group of the children. While there is no great difference in the interactions themselves, deeper studies could be conducted to quantify the true long-term effects of exposure for children, as well as their environmental risks as a result of the mothers' addiction.