ABSTRACT
The seemingly intractable opioid epidemic compels researchers, the media, and families to better understand the causes and effects of this complex and evolving public health crisis. The effects of this crisis on people using opioids, maternal prenatal opioid exposure, and neonatal abstinence syndrome are well-documented, but less is known about the impact of caregivers' opioid use on children's health and well-being. One challenge to understanding the effects of parental opioid use disorder (OUD) on child and adolescent outcomes is the numerous interrelated pathways in which a child's health and well-being can be impacted. To better understand these dynamic relationships, we applied a systems mapping approach to visualize complex patterns and interactions between pathways and potential leverage points for interventions. Specifically, we developed a causal loop diagram system map to elucidate the complex and interconnected relationships between parental OUD, social determinants of health at the family and socio-environmental levels, family strengths, social supports, and possible adverse impacts on children's physical and mental health and risks for future substance misuse. The goals of this research are to (1) identify factors and dynamics that contribute to the relationship between parental OUD and children's health and well-being and (2) illustrate how systems mapping as a tool can aid in understanding the complex factors and dynamics of the system(s) that influence the well-being of children and their parents or primary caregivers.
ABSTRACT
Surveillance of U.S. breastfeeding duration and exclusivity has historically reported estimates among all infants, regardless of whether they had initiated breastfeeding. These surveillance estimates have consistently shown that non-Hispanic black (black) infants are less likely to breastfeed, compared with other racial/ethnic groups.* Less is known about disparities in breastfeeding duration when calculated only among infants who had initiated breastfeeding, compared with surveillance estimates based on all infants. CDC analyzed National Immunization Survey-Child (NIS-Child) data for infants born in 2015 to describe breastfeeding duration and exclusivity at ages 3 and 6 months among all black and non-Hispanic white (white) infants, and among only those who had initiated breastfeeding. When calculated among all infants regardless of breastfeeding initiation, breastfeeding differences between black and white infants were 14.7 percentage points (95% confidence interval [CI] = 10.7-18.8) for any breastfeeding at age 3 months and were significantly different for both any and exclusive breastfeeding at both ages 3 and 6 months. Among only infants who had initiated breastfeeding, the magnitude of black-white differences in breastfeeding rates were smaller. This was most notable in rates of any breastfeeding at 3 months, where the percentage point difference between black and white infants was reduced to 1.2 (95% CI = -2.3-4.6) percentage points and was no longer statistically significant. Black-white disparities in breastfeeding duration result, in part, from disparities in initiation. Interventions both to improve breastfeeding initiation and to support continuation among black mothers might help reduce disparities.
