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Little evidence to support focus on ‘toxic trio’, National Children's Bureau suggests

2 mins read Social Care
Academics have found a lack of evidence to support the children’s social care sector’s focus on the combined impact of parental mental illness, drug or alcohol abuse and domestic violence.
Anna Feuchtwang says the label 'toxic trio' risks alienating families.
Anna Feuchtwang says the label 'toxic trio' risks alienating families.

Research led by the National Children’s Bureau (NCB) and the Universities of Cambridge and Kent says there is “little evidence to support the focus in children’s social work on the combined effect of the so-called toxic trio”.

This calls into question the commonly held view that where these factors occur together the risks to children multiply.

The NCB says the research found there is little understanding of “how, and indeed if, they combine to significantly increase the danger to children”.

Where previous studies have looked at parental mental problems, substance abuse and domestic violence together these have “lacked the precision, detail and depth needed to inform good policymaking, or even to estimate how common these factors are or how many children are experiencing abuse and neglect as a result of them,” said the NCB.

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