Family Recovery after Domestic Abuse (FReDA)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Family Recovery after Domestic Abuse (FReDA): A feasibility randomised trial and nested process evaluation of a group based psychoeducational intervention for children exposed to domestic violence and abuse
IRAS ID
283925
Contact name
Emma Howarth
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
The University of East London
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 4 months, 0 days
Research summary
There are programmes that try to prevent or reduce the damage that domestic violence and abuse (DVA) causes to mental health, but overall there has been very little research to work out whether these programmes improve outcomes and reduce costs associated with DVA.
Programmes combining education, support and counselling are most widely available in the UK, but there is no good quality evidence to show if this type of support is helpful and good value for money.
We are interested in one particular programme called Children Overcoming Domestic Abuse, CODA for short, because it has become quite well established in London and parts of Scotland. Children receive a 12-week group intervention, and a group work programme runs at the same time for mothers or female carers.
The study we propose aims to find out if it is possible to conduct an experimental study, to compare whether children who take part in CODA do any better than similar children who receive the support that would normally be available to them. It is needed as a first step because we are not sure if families or the people working with them would be willing to support a trial where only some children and mothers are able to access the programme we are testing.
Families with exposed children aged 7-11 years will be identified and referred to the study by community agencies (e.g. housing). Families wishing to take part will complete questionnaires about their health and well-being and then be divided into two groups at random using a computerised system that is like flipping a coin.
We will use questionnaires to assess acceptability and feasibility. Finally, we will undertake a small sub-study to gather thoughts of men who have been victimised to find out whether an intervention such as the CODA could be helpful for them.
REC name
Wales REC 5
REC reference
20/WA/0199
Date of REC Opinion
21 Jul 2020
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion