Family-Based Treatment for Parental Substance Abuse and Child Maltreatment

Completed · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Substance Abuse, Child Abuse, Child Neglect

In brief

Parental substance abuse is a leading determinant of child maltreatment and, consequently, is often linked with negative clinical outcomes for children, exorbitant financial costs for the child welfare system, and serious social costs for the investigators nation. Yet, in spite of the seriousness of child maltreatment in the context of parental substance abuse and that there are well-established effective treatments for adult substance abuse, substance-abusing parents in the child welfare system are less likely to be offered services and receive services. Well-integrated treatments for the dual problem of substance abuse and child maltreatment are virtually nonexistent in the research literature. This study is a randomized controlled trial comparing Comprehensive Community Treatment to Multisystemic Therapy-Building Stronger Families (MST-BSF), an integrated model of two evidence-based treatments for parental substance abuse and child maltreatment that has shown promise in a 4-year pilot. Statement of Study Hypothesis: Compared to Comprehensive Community Treatment, parents receiving MST-BSF will show greater reductions in parental substance abuse and psychological distress, greater increases in employment, drug-free activities, social support, and positive parenting, and fewer incidents of reabuse of a child. Children whose families receive MST-BSF will experience fewer child out-of-home placements and greater reductions in internalizing symptoms such as anxiety.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT01656837

Run by

Medical University of South Carolina

People needed

191

Starts

2011-04-01

Expected to finish

2016-08-01

Last updated by the study team

2016-09-30

Who can join

Age: 6 and older. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

• An allegation of parental physical abuse and/or neglect of a child was received by DCF child protective services, and DCF has decided that the information collected is sufficient to conclude that maltreatment occurred.
• The report of physical abuse and/or neglect came to DCF child protective services within the past 180 days.
• The maltreating parent met diagnostic criteria for a substance abuse disorder as assessed with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders (SCID-I/P; First, Spitzer, Gibbon, \& Williams, 2002).
• The maltreated child was between the ages of 6 and 17 years.

You may not qualify if…

• Families will be excluded if either of these criteria are met:
• Child protective services has a confirmed report of current and ongoing physical or sexual violence by one parent or caregiver toward another parent or caregiver (i.e., active domestic violence).
• Child protective services has a confirmed report that a child in the home is actively being sexually abused by a parent or caregiver who is in the home (i.e., active child sexual abuse).

Where it is running

• Connecticut Department of Children and Families — New Britain, Connecticut, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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