Archives
Family-treatment approach effective in reducing risk of children becoming substance abusers
By CHRISTINE VIDAL
Contributing Editor
Preliminary results of a first-of-its-kind program to prevent children from falling into the same negative patterns as their substance-abusing parents have shown that a family-treatment approach emphasizing communication and skill building is effective in reducing the risk of children becoming substance abusers, according to School of Social Work researchers.
More than 600 families in the Buffalo-Niagara region and southern Ontario participated in the Families Working Together program, a collaborative project conducted by the School of Social Work and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Canada.
"Children of alcoholics are at higher risk of certain negative outcomes, including alcoholism, substance abuse, depression and anxiety," said Andrew Safyer, interim dean of the School of Social Work and a co-investigator on the project. "Studies show that programs that target parents, children and the family itself are more effective in preventing further substance abuse."
Funded by a five-year, $2.9 million grant from the National Institute of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse of the National Institutions of Health, the Families Working Together program worked with families with a child between the ages of 9 and 12 who has or had a parent with an alcohol problem and a parent or caretaker who has regular responsibility for the child.
Families enrolled in the project were selected based on referrals from substance-abuse agencies, health and mental-health agencies, schools and advertisements in newspapers and on posters. They were selected at random either to attend weekly sessions focusing on family relationships, parenting skills and children's coping and competency skills, or to receive a booklet of information on preventing substance abuse.
Researchers conducted interviews with the families before and after the 14 weekly sessions, as well as four and eight months after they concluded the program.
Meetings were designed to allow families to become familiar and comfortable with the structure and to ensure there were no surprises, said Eileen Giancarlo, program coordinator for the School of Social Work.
The three-hour, weekly meetings were divided into three parts, she said. Sessions began with a family-style meal for participants and counseling staff, followed by an hour when children and parents attended separate group counseling sessions. The third hour was used to bring families back together to practice the skills they had learned.
The children's groups focused on skills to build resilience, such as awareness and appropriate communication of feelings, problem solving and social skills, resisting peer pressure and identifying healthy resources within their community and education about substance use, abuse and addiction.
The parents' groups emphasized an atmosphere of hopefulness leading to positive change, including the importance of tuning in to a child's developmental issues, needs and unique risk and protective factors, as well as communication skills and effective techniques for managing anger, stress and discipline.
"The families we're working with are really stressed," said Giancarlo. "Even having a meal prepared for them is special. We're not just feeding their bodies; we're feeding their spirits. Plus, sitting down and talking with these families gives them skills to model at home and gives them a chance to practice the skills they're learning."
Of the 720 families originally enrolled, 600 remained active in the study. With a great deal of effort going into participant retention, the program provided transportation to meetings, as well as child care, if needed, for siblings not involved in counseling aspects of the program. Participants were compensated for their time and received a great deal of personal attention from program staff, including cards, phone calls of support and referrals to service agencies when needed.
The success of the Families Working Together program would not have been possible, said Safyer, without the support of numerous community partners, which included Stutzman Addiction Treatment Services; Catholic Charities, Metro District and Msgr. Carr Clinic; Clearview Outpatient Services, Alcoholism Council of Niagara County; Family and Children's Services of Niagara; Niagara Falls High School; Amherst Youth Board; Erie County Office of Mental Health, and Martha H. Beeman Foundation.
Both the School of Social Work and the program's community partners have benefited and grown from the collaboration, he added.
In addition to providing participants with access to some of the best clinicians in Western New York, partnering agencies received staff training and had access to the university and its resources. The university benefited as well from the opportunity to test theory-based "best practices" and to recruit subjects and receive advice from counselors on issues that may impact recruitment and retention of families enrolled in the study.
Results of the study have been gratifying, said Tom Nochajski, associate professor of social work and principal investigator on Families Working Together.
The results of parents' pre-test and post-test views of behavior problems and family functioning showed "very positive changes," Nochajski said.
Parents in the treatment group reported more improvement in their children's behavior problems than families who received an information packet as treatment.
Family functioning also improved more for families who participated in group counseling, including in areas such as task accomplishment, family role, communication and expression of feelings.
Other co-investigators involved in the project were David Dewit of CAMH; Eugene Maguin, research scientist in the School of Social Work, and Scott Macdonald of CAMH.