The COVID-19 pandemic posed substantial challenges to all parents and families with children. However, women with substance use disorder (SUD) raising young children were particularly burdened, primarily stemming from their responsibilities and challenges concerning family and parenting, child welfare involvement, and substance use recovery. This qualitative study sought to elucidate the complex intersection among parenting, child welfare, and substance use treatment for pregnant and postpartum women raising young children during the pandemic. Participants were 35 women enrolled in a clinical trial of a therapeutic parenting intervention within a prenatal clinic for people with SUD. They were interviewed remotely using a semi-structured Coronavirus Pandemic Qualitative Interview protocol developed for the study. Following a thematic analysis approach, two coders analyzed transcribed interviews through line-by-line coding using NVivo 12. Findings revealed that participants encountered both similar and distinct challenges compared to the general population of families with young children during the pandemic. Like other families, they expressed struggles with typical life tasks and concerns over children’s health and development. Distinct to families managing substance use recovery, they described adverse interactions with the child welfare system, conflicting feelings about changes in substance use treatment, and positivity amidst uncertainty. Findings provide insight into the difficulties faced by families involved in the child welfare system managing parental SUD and recovery. Furthermore, they highlight the need to address more effectively the often-hidden struggles faced by this population through specialized interventions and greater collaborations among various services.

COVID-19 大流行给所有有孩子的父母和家庭带来了巨大的挑战。然而，患有药物滥用障碍 (SUD) 的妇女抚养幼儿的负担尤其沉重，这主要源于她们在家庭和养育子女、儿童福利参与和药物滥用康复方面的责任和挑战。这项定性研究旨在阐明大流行期间抚养孩子的孕妇和产后妇女的育儿、儿童福利和药物滥用治疗之间的复杂交叉点。参与者是 35 名女性，参加了一项在产前诊所针对 SUD 患者进行治疗性育儿干预的临床试验。他们使用为本研究开发的半结构化冠状病毒大流行定性访谈协议进行了远程访谈。采用主题分析方法，两名编码员使用 NVivo 12 通过逐行编码对转录的采访进行了分析。研究结果显示，与大流行期间有幼儿的家庭的一般人群相比，参与者遇到了相似和独特的挑战。和其他家庭一样，他们表达了对典型生活任务的挣扎以及对孩子健康和发展的担忧。与管理药物滥用康复的家庭不同，他们描述了与儿童福利系统的不利互动、对药物滥用治疗变化的矛盾感受以及不确定性中的积极态度。调查结果深入了解了参与儿童福利系统管理父母 SUD 和康复的家庭所面临的困难。 此外，他们强调需要通过专门干预措施和加强各服务部门之间的合作，更有效地解决这一人群面临的往往隐藏的斗争。