A trauma-informed approach for children and parents living with parental drug use in Dublin, Republic of Ireland

Background: A significant proportion of children live with parental drug use and outcomes may include child maltreatment, abuse and neglect; mental health difficulties and academic underachievement. Stigmatisation, shame and secrecy are often major challenges that families face when seeking support. Recent evidence suggests trauma informed approaches may be effective while working with families living with parental drug use.

Objectives: 1) To explore how services provided by a children’s charity in Dublin Ireland (Barnardos) respond to the individual needs of children and families living with problematic parental drug use;
2) to understand the trauma-informed approach to service delivery and 3) to explore the impact for children and parents.

Methodology: The study adopted a mixed-methods approach consisting of secondary analysis of routine administrative data and twenty-one semi-structured interviews with children/young people (n=4), parents/carers (n=5), Barnardos staff (n=7) and external practitioners (n=5). Ethical approval was granted via Ulster University research ethics committee and the qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis.

Significant results: Families reported a range of complex socio-economic and community challenges. Trauma informed and child-centred approaches were vital in addressing the needs of the families. The identification of safety networks was also central to providing support to families. Parents reported feeling safe, secure & non-stigmatised while engaging with the services. Primary needs for children and parents included parenting (parent-child relationship) and child behavioural difficulties and a desire to break intergenerational cycles of trauma. Self-regulation was a key outcome for both parents and children. Families were satisfied that the services helped to maintain the safety of the child, helped parents to understand the impact of their drug use on children; and strengthened parenting capacity.

Conclusions: The long-term aim of the service was to break intergenerational cycles of trauma and drug use. The findings suggest the services may help families to address intergenerational cycles through strengthening both parenting capacity and self-regulation