Families Facing the Future
Problems addressed
Drug abuse
Effectiveness

No Effect

.

.

.

.

.

No Effect

Want to know more about this classification? Check out our methodological manual.

Life periods served
Children (4 to 13 years)
Adults (18 to 59 years)
Where the program was applied
Ambulatory - Social services centers
Ambulatory - Health service centers
Country of application
United States
Description

This is a training curriculum for parents with drug abuse problems who have children from 5 to 14 years old. The goal is to reduce parental drug abuse and prevent drug abuse among children, as well as to strengthen protective factors.
The curriculum addresses parental behavioral issues through a guided participatory model of behavioral, cognitive, and affective skills training. Facilitators present the skills to participants, who discuss in groups and practice the lessons learned. The program consists of a five-hour family retreat and 32 parent training sessions, conducted twice a week for 16 weeks, in groups of six to eight families. Children attend 12 of these sessions.

Impact evaluations

Impact evaluation studies highlighted that, although it was found that after the 12-month follow-up period, parents in the treatment group were statistically significantly less likely to report heroin use, less likely to engage in domestic conflict, and more likely to refuse drug abuse or relapse compared to the parents in the control group [1], no statistically significant effects on children’s drug abuse were found [1] [2]. Overall, the preponderance of evidence suggests that the program did not have the intended effects, especially on children.

Bibliographic reference

[1] Catalano, R. F., Gainey, R. R., Fleming, C. B., Haggerty, K. P. & Johnson, N. O. (1999). An experimental intervention with families of substance abusers: One-year follow-up of the focus on families project. Addiction (Abingdon, England), 94(2), 241–254. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1360-0443.1999.9422418.x

[2] Haggerty, K. P., Skinner, M., Fleming, C. B., Gainey, R. R. & Catalano, R. F. (2008). Long-term effects of the Focus on Families project on substance use disorders among children of parents in methadone treatment. Addiction (Abingdon, England), 103(12), 2008–2016. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1360-0443.2008.02360.x

Information source