Substance Misuse and Family Violence Treatment for Fathers

PROJECT SUMMARY / ABSTRACT The proposed stage II intervention efficacy trail is designed to address two significant co-occurring issues for fathers with substance use (SU) problems: Intimate partner violence (IPV) and child maltreatment together defined as family violence (FV). SU treatment programs are an important avenue to reduce family violence because SU treatment alone does not result in an end to these behaviors. Currently available interventions have had little success in reducing male FV. Fathers for Change, an integrated outpatient intervention, shows promise as an intervention model targeting the intersection of SU and FV. The intervention uses men's roles as fathers as a motivation for change and targets emotional dysregulation as the common factor associated with all three problems. It is composed of 9 core topics designed to increase motivation and reflective functioning and target poor emotion regulation followed by 4 co-parent topics and 5 father-child topics for a total of 18 sessions. This project will test the efficacy of Fathers for Change model in reducing SU and FV compared to a comparable dose of Individual Drug Counseling post-treatment, 3- and 6-month following treatment for fathers with substance use disorders seen in either community or VA SU treatment settings. Emotion dysregulation will be examined as the mechanisms through which Fathers for Change reduces SU and FV. The study will test differential outcomes for high and low risk clients in preparation for implementation in community settings. If Fathers for Change demonstrates efficacy in reducing SU and FV simultaneously the intervention can readily be integrated into the more than 2500 outpatient SU treatment programs nationally. Reductions in SU and FV will have major public health and criminal justice implications.