Table 1.
Characteristics of identified randomized studies
| First author | N | Treatment groups | Study sample | Postintervention follow-up period | Measure | Main findings for child outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dawe and Harnett42 | 64 | • PUP • Brief intervention • Standard treatment |
Parents who were on methadone maintenance and had children between the ages of 2 and 8 years | 6 months | Child behavior: strengths and difficulties questionnaire | • PUP family participants had significantly larger reductions in child behavior problems than the brief intervention and standard group participants. |
| Haggerty et al43 | 151 | • FOF • Standard treatment |
Families (representing 144 parents and 177 children) recruited from two methadone clinics | 12–15 years | Substance use disorder: composite international diagnostic interview | • Overall, there were no significant differences in the risk of developing a substance use disorder during the follow-up period among the children in both treatment groups. • When looking at gender differences, there was a significant reduction in the risk of developing a substance use disorder among the FOF males when compared to the males in the standard treatment group. |
| Kelley and Fals-Stewart44 | 135 | • BCT • PACT • IBT |
Men entering outpatient treatment for alcoholism and other drug abuse, their female partners, and a custodial child between 6 and 16 years of age | 6 and 12 months | Psychosocial adjustment: pediatric symptom checklist | • Children of BCT participants showed greater improvements in their psychosocial functioning through the 6- and 12-month postintervention follow-up period when compared to the children of PACT and IBT participants. |
| Lam et al45 | 30 | • PSBCT • BCT • IBT |
Men entering outpatient alcohol treatment, their female partners, and a custodial child between 8 and 12 years of age | 6 and 12 months | Problem behavior: child behavior checklist depression: children’s depression inventory anxiety: the revised children’s manifest anxiety scale | • Children of PSBCT participants showed greater improvements in behavioral problems, depression, and anxiety through the 6- and 12-month postintervention follow-up period when compared to the children of BCT and IBT participants. |
Abbreviations: BCT, Behavioral Couples Therapy; FOF, Focus on Families; IBT, individual-based treatment; PACT, psychoeducational attention control treatment; PSBCT, Parent Skills with Behavioral Couples Therapy; PUP, Parents under Pressure.