PuP4Dads study v1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Improving outcomes for children and families affected by PATERNAL substance misuse: A feasibility study of the PARENTS UNDER PRESSURE (PuP) programme for fathers.
IRAS ID
213016
Contact name
Anne Whittaker
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Stirling
ISRCTN Number
ISRCTN43209618
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 11 months, 28 days
Research summary
Parents affected by drug misuse are a highly marginalised group of parents, who are often reluctant to engage with family support services and group-based parenting programmes. Therefore, a targeted approach to supporting these families with effective programmes specifically designed for high-risk parents is required. To date, nearly all parenting programmes designed for drug dependent parents have focused on mothers and mothering. Drug dependent fathers have been largely excluded despite evidence that they contribute to a poor caregiving environment and often have a parenting style that involves physical and verbal aggression towards children and situational violence towards partners. Thus, there is a compelling argument to involve drug dependent fathers in programmes that aim to improve couple and father-child relationships, as well as the overall caregiving environment. This study involves opioid-dependent fathers in a parenting intervention – the Parents under Pressure (PuP) programme – developed in Australia, specifically for drug-dependent parents. PuP is an intensive manual based home-visiting programme, delivered flexibly over a 24 week period by trained PuP practitioners. PuP was found to be effective in a randomised controlled trial (RCT) with parents on methadone and is currently the subject of a multi-centre RCT in the UK. However, these evaluations primarily focus on mothers. Evidence suggests that there are many challenges to involving fathers, especially high risk fathers with complex needs, in both parenting programmes and research studies. Thus the aim of this study is to implement and test the feasibility and acceptability of the Parents under Pressure (PuP) programme for opioid-dependent fathers and their families and to determine whether a future full scale evaluation including an economic evaluation, could be conducted. Using a mixed methods approach, this two year study will involve 24 families with at least one preschool aged child living in the home.
REC name
South East Scotland REC 02
REC reference
17/SS/0023
Date of REC Opinion
14 Mar 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion