The RISE CAPVA Efficacy Study

Building the evidence base to find out what works best to help families when children or teenagers are abusive towards their parents or carers.

The RISE CAPVA Randomised Control Trial (RCT) is going to test how well a new programme works to reduce Child or Adolescent to Parent Violence and Abuse (CAPVA). This programme aims to help children and young people (aged 9-17) who show violent or abusive behaviour towards their parents or carers. It does this by teaching non-violent resistance to their parents and carers.

The main goal of this study is to see how the CAPVA programme, developed by RISE Mutual CIC, compares to the usual support families get. The RISE CAPVA programme works differently from other types of support, and this study will compare these different kinds of help for families dealing with CAPVA. By doing this, we hope to find out what works best to help these families now and in the future.

Before the RISE programme can be used more widely, we need to know if it’s actually helpful and what it’s like for families who take part in it. So, this study will check if the CAPVA programme really reduces challenging behaviour from young people.

Families who agree to join the study will be split into two groups randomly. Half of them will get the usual support available in their area, known as the business as usual (BAU) group. The other half will receive the RISE CAPVA programme. We’ll follow up with families from both groups for about a year after they start, to see if the support they get makes a difference.

This study is funded by the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF), a charity set up in March 2019 to help stop children and young people from getting involved in violence. YEF funds projects and studies to find out what works best in supporting kids, teens, and their families affected by violence. Read more about YEF.