Substance Misuse and Family Violence Treatment Fathers

NCT06650267 | Recruiting Phase 2 DMC

• 2 other identifiers: 20000381471R01DA059914-01A1
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 280
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 2

Brief Summary

This study involves a randomized controlled trial of Fathers for Change (F4C) compared to Individual Drug Counseling (IDC) with a sample of 280 fathers enrolled in substance use (SU) treatment within community or veterans (VA) healthcare settings to (a) demonstrate F4C efficacy compared to IDC in reducing SU and family violence (FV) at end of treatment, 3- and 6-month post-treatment follow-up, and (b) document improved emotion regulation as the mechanism within F4C that results in reduced SU and FV.

Conditions

Substance Misuse; Violence, Domestic; Child Abuse

Keywords

substance misuse; intimate partner violence; domestic violence; treatment

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Substance Misuse

  Self-reported days of substance misuse reported a positive breathalyzer/urine tox screen will be used to create a sum of the number of weeks with use during treatment and at each follow-up period.

  Baseline (week 0), weekly during treatment for through 18 week, Post-Treatment at week 19, week 32 and week 45

• Family Violence (FV)

  Any instance of FV either toward a partner or child identified by any report (self-report on the Timeline Followback weekly surveys, child protection or arrest record) will be counted to allow for the best estimate of FV across reports resulting in a sum count of the number of FV incidents during the 18 weeks of treatment and from post-treatment to each follow-up timepoint

  Baseline (week 0), weekly during treatment for through 18 week, Post-Treatment at week 19, week 32 and week 45

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Emotion Dysregulation

  Baseline (week 0), Post-Treatment at week 19, week 32 and week 45

• Articulated Thoughts in Simulated Situations (ATSS)

  Baseline (week 0) and Post-Treatment (week 18)

Study Arms (2)

Fathers for Change

EXPERIMENTAL

Behavioral: Fathers for Change (F4C)

Individual Drug Counseling

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Behavioral: Individual Drug Counseling (IDC)

Interventions

Fathers for Change (F4C) BEHAVIORAL

Defining features of F4C delivered over 18 sessions: 1) focus on the fathers model of fatherhood as a motivator for change, 2) focus on understanding and identifying feelings, teaching skills to identify and change emotional dysregulation that lead to both SU and FV, 3) co-parent communication skills to reduce stress and improve problem solving, 4) restorative parenting (see Table 1 and figure 1)127. F4C focuses on reflective understanding of emotional experiences, how that impacts thoughts and behaviors related to SU, FV, co-parenting/parenting each session. Through greater self-awareness, the father is better able to apply coping, communication and parenting skills introduced to reduce SU and FV.

Fathers for Change

Individual Drug Counseling (IDC) BEHAVIORAL

IDC is an individual evidence-based SU treatment84 that incorporates two elements: endorsement of the disease model and the spiritual dimensions of recovery. These elements differentiate the approach from F4C. IDC is influenced by 12-step recovery philosophy and participation in 12-step groups like NA are encouraged. The model places focus on the individual in recovery without a focus on fatherhood or co-parenting. IDC will be offered in an 18-session format.

Individual Drug Counseling

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: male
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• meet DSM-5 criteria for an SU disorder at the time of assessment at APT or VACHS;
• report FV within the last 18 months prior to screening (based on self, court, police or child protection reports);
• have at least one biological child aged 1 to 12 years with whom they live or have at least twice per month in person visits;
• are able to complete assessments in English; and
• agree to have their female coparents (mother of the youngest child) contacted for participation of their youngest child. If a participant has more than one child in the age range, the youngest will be the target of assessment and treatment.

You may not qualify if:

• an active full/no contact protective order pertaining to their child;
• physiological addiction to a substance that requires detoxification (such individuals may be re-evaluated following detox);
• cognitive impairment (a mini mental state score \<25);
• current untreated psychotic/bipolar disorder;
• currently suicidal or homicidal based on Brief Symptom Inventory Screening and follow-up on positive responses; or
• are currently receiving weekly individual therapy for Substance misuse or family violence

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Yale University: lead
• APT Foundation, Inc.: collaborator
• VA Connecticut Healthcare System: collaborator
• National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA): collaborator

Study Sites (2)

Yale University Child Study Center

New Haven, Connecticut, 06520, United States

RECRUITING

APT Foundation

West Haven, Connecticut, 06516, United States

RECRUITING

Study Officials

• Carla S Stover, Ph.D.

  Yale University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Carla S Stover, Ph.D.

CONTACT

2037853486; carla.stover@yale.edu

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: phase 2
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: October 16, 2024
• First Posted: October 21, 2024
• Study Start: February 17, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2029
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2030
• Last Updated: April 10, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-04

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL
• Time Frame: The research community will have access to data when the primary analyses have been completed and published.
• Access Criteria: Researchers will request access to the data through a standard request and approval by the study PI and then release by the repository

Locations

US (2)