Funded by the Federal German Ministry of Health, the German Institute of Addiction and Prevention Research is currently developing a parenting intervention named SHIFT Plus. SHIFT Plus is a follow-up project of the “SHIFT parent training” that has been implemented and evaluated between 2016 and 2018.
The original SHIFT parent training is a group program for mothers and fathers using methamphetamine with children up to 8 years of age. It focusses on strengthening parenting skills and family resilience and stabilizing abstinence. Results from a multicenter quasi-experimental trial revealed that the intervention group demonstrated more sensitive parenting and reported less drug-related problems and relapses than the control group. The acceptance of both trainers and participants was remarkably high. The publication of the German SHIFT handbook is intended for May 2019, an English translation is pending.
SHIFT Plus is an adaption and extension and addresses parents using other illicit substances, like e.g. opiates, cannabis, stimulants, or polyvalent drug use. Moreover, it contains two add-on family modules, integrating family members such as partners or children. In total, SHIFT Plus consists of ten group sessions á 90 minutes. As the original SHIFT program, SHIFT Plus aims at strengthening parenting skills, with special focus placed on promoting family resilience and maintaining abstinence. SHIFT Plus will be delivered in ten cooperating study centres in Germany and tested within a randomized-controlled trial. The project has started in October 2018 and will be finished in March 2021.
Members of the SHIFT Plus Reseach Team: Prof. Dr. Michael Klein, Dr. Diana Moesgen & Janina Dyba