Fathering In Recovery

The majority of men experiencing opioid use disorder and receiving treatment are fathers. Substance use, transitions between in-patient and out-patient treatment, and reunification as a family, all create considerable strain and are predictive of a host of negative long-term outcomes including increased rates of relapse for fathers and elevated risk for behavioral, emotional, and substance use problems in their children. Evidence-based parenting interventions for fathers are lacking in general, yet are exceedingly rare for fathers participating in opioid use disorder treatment, even though the extant research literature suggests the integration of services is not only timely but may help engage and retain fathers in treatment and produce protective factors for children. The goal of this project is to develop and evaluate a prototype of a usable innovative web-based program that integrates existing evidence-based parenting programs, yet tailored specifically to fathers with opioid use disorder and designed for the opioid treatment context in order to promote the implementation and dissemination of father specific empirically-supported treatment.