Interventions with high-risk families: An evaluation of the Parents Under Pressure program

Author

Dr Paul Harnett

Speaker

Dr Paul Harnett, Associate-professor Sharon Dawe, Griffith University

Organisation

University of Queensland.

The Parents Under Pressure (PUP) was developed specifically for multi-problem, high-risk families. The PUP program is an ecologically based intervention addressing problems of parents at the individual level, the parent-child relationship, family functioning more generally, and the social context of the family. Studies, including a randomised control trial of PUP, have provided evidence of the efficacy of the program with substance abusing parents, parents involved with child protection agencies, and parents in prison. In working with abusive parents it must be acknowledged that a proportion of families will not benefit from even an intensive parenting program. It is important that interventions in clinical practice assess each family's response to the intervention. The PUP program includes an assessment of potential-to-change as an integral part of the program.

This paper will present an overview of the PUP program, evidence of its efficacy and a description of the potential-to-change procedure.

Presentation

Paper

Biography

Paul Harnett is a Lecturer in Clinical Psychology at the University of Queensland. He has worked clinically and conducted research in the area of child protection since 1987. He has worked as a Clinical Psychologist in a specialist child protection team at the Maudsley Hospital in London. In Australia he has worked as a Clinical Psychologist in care and protection for the NSW Department of Community Services. Together with colleagues he has developed he parents under pressure program, an intervention specifically targeting high-risk families. This intervention has been subject to clinical trials with substance abusing parents, parents involved with child protection agencies, and parents in prison. In addition to evaluating the impact of the PUP program on this client group, he is interested in evaluation a procedure for the assessment of potential to change to assist in decision-making and treatment planning in child protection.

Sharon Dawe is an Associate Professor in Clinical Psychology at Griffith University. She has been working as a researcher and clinician in the field of substance misuse and mental health for over 15 years in London, UK, Sydney and Brisbane on a range of clinical interventions. Her most recent work involves the development and evaluation of the Parents Under Pressure program in collaboration with Paul H Harnett (University of Queensland). Sharon Dawe is also leading a consortium investigating "Drug Use in the Family: Impacts and Implications for children" funded by Australian National Council on Drugs (2005 - 2007). She has published extensively in high quality peer reviewed journal including British Journal of Psychiatry, Addiction, Drug and Alcohol Dependence, Addictive Behaviors, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Psychopharmacology.