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Fathers for Change for Substance Use and Intimate Partner Violence: Initial Community Pilot
Author(s) -
Stover Carla Smith
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
family process
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.011
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1545-5300
pISSN - 0014-7370
DOI - 10.1111/famp.12136
Subject(s) - coparenting , intrusiveness , intervention (counseling) , domestic violence , psychology , substance abuse , clinical psychology , poison control , suicide prevention , injury prevention , psychiatry , developmental psychology , medicine , medical emergency
The lack of focus on the role of men as fathers within intervention programs for men with histories of Intimate Partner Violence ( IPV ) or substance abuse is of significant concern given the large numbers of these men who are actively parenting and coparenting children. Fathers for Change is a new intervention designed to fill this gap. Eighteen fathers with co‐occurring IPV and substance abuse were randomly assigned to Fathers for Change or Individual Drug Counseling ( IDC ). They were assessed at baseline, post‐intervention and 3 months following the 16‐week intervention period. Men in the Fathers for Change group: (1) were more likely to complete treatment; (2) reported significantly greater satisfaction with the program; (3) reported a trend toward less IPV ; and (4) exhibited significantly less intrusiveness in coded play interactions with their children following treatment than fathers in the IDC group. Results indicate further evaluation of this intervention in a larger sample is warranted. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.