Prevention of Violence Against Children

Sponsor

University of Konstanz (Other)

Overall Status

Completed

CT.gov ID

NCT03051854

Collaborator

Bielefeld University (Other), Alexander von Humboldt Association (Other)

720

Enrollment

Location

Arms

Actual Duration (Months)

40.1

Patients Per Site Per Month

Study Details

Study Description

Brief Summary

Beside the home, the school is often the second important setting for the development and education of children and adolescents. Students spend a large part of their life at school. However, there is recurrent occurrence of violence against children and of harsh discipline measures used in home and school settings. These may result into negative consequences. Hence, prevention strategies against the use of harsh discipline use in schools become a priority.

In the baseline of this study the investigators will therefore examine the prevalence and consequences of violence against children in Southwestern Uganda. The study will be conducted in schools and common disciplinary measures used by teachers, and the perceptions of teachers' and students' in relation to commonly used and experienced disciplinary measures we will be investigated.

In the second phase, the investigators then will implement and assess the effectiveness of an intervention aimed at reducing the use of harsh and violent disciplinary measures in schools. ICC-T training in the long-term aims at fostering better relations amongst students and teachers. Based on feasibility studies, ICC-T intervention is expected to result into better teacher-student relationships, change in teachers' attitudes and behaviors concerning the use of violent disciplinary measures in the school setting.

Condition or Disease	Intervention/Treatment	Phase
Violence Against Children	Behavioral: Interaction Competencies with children - for teachers	N/A

Detailed Description

Study participants (i.e., teachers and students) will be recruited from six districts in southwestern Uganda. The sample will include 12 government-aided secondary schools from which 60 students and 15-25 teachers will be recruited. The final sample will have 720 students and 180-300 teachers. Investigators will assess data in the baseline (i.e., prior to intervention) and three months after the intervention.

Study measures will cover the following topics: socio-demographic data, common disciplinary measure used at home and at school, students' mental health problems, students' and teachers' attitudes towards violent discipline measures, and students' exposure to peer and sexual violence. Questionnaire for teachers will have additional items that measure attitudes towards teaching and teacher stress. Additionally, the investigators will also assess the demand, acceptance and feasibility of the training.

Study Design

Study Type:

Interventional

Actual Enrollment :

720 participants

Allocation:

Randomized

Intervention Model:

Factorial Assignment

Masking:

Single (Outcomes Assessor)

Primary Purpose:

Prevention

Official Title:

Prevalence, Consequences and Prevention of Violence Against Children in Southwestern Uganda

Actual Study Start Date :

Apr 1, 2018

Actual Primary Completion Date :

Sep 30, 2019

Actual Study Completion Date :

Sep 30, 2019

Arms and Interventions

Arm	Intervention/Treatment
Experimental: ICC-T Intervention: Interaction Competencies with children - for teachers (ICC-T) 5.5 days with 8 hours of training for teachers. Core training components include teacher-student interaction, maltreatment prevention, effective discipline strategies, identifying and supporting burdened students and implementation of the training materials into the school setting	Behavioral: Interaction Competencies with children - for teachers Core training components include teacher-student interaction, maltreatment prevention, effective discipline strategies, identifying and supporting burdened students and implementation of the training materials into the school setting.
No Intervention: Control schools The control school do not receive any intervention.

Arm

Intervention/Treatment

Experimental: ICC-T

Intervention: Interaction Competencies with children - for teachers (ICC-T) 5.5 days with 8 hours of training for teachers. Core training components include teacher-student interaction, maltreatment prevention, effective discipline strategies, identifying and supporting burdened students and implementation of the training materials into the school setting

Behavioral: Interaction Competencies with children - for teachers

Core training components include teacher-student interaction, maltreatment prevention, effective discipline strategies, identifying and supporting burdened students and implementation of the training materials into the school setting.

No Intervention: Control schools

The control school do not receive any intervention.

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

Change in teachers' application of harsh discipline [The CTSPC will be used at T 1 (baseline, prior to intervention) and T2 (follow-up, 3 months after intervention)]
In teachers the Conflict Tactics Scale Parent-Child version (CTSPC) will assess teachers' use of violent discipline measure against students in the school locale.
Change in student's exposure to harsh discipline by teachers [CTSPC will be used at T 1 (baseline, prior to intervention) and T2 (follow-up, 3 months after intervention)]
The Conflict Tactics Scale Parent-Child version (CTSPC) will assess the students' self-reported experiences of violent discipline in schools.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Change in student's mental health [SDQ will be used at (baseline, prior to intervention) and T2 (follow-up, 3 months after intervention)]
Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) will assess students' internalizing and externalizing problems. SDQ will be used at T1 and T2.
Change in teachers's attitudes towards harsh discipline [The adapted version of CTSPC will be used at T 1 (baseline, prior to intervention) and T2 (follow-up, 3 months after intervention)]
Items of the CTSPC have been adapted to measure teachers' and students' attitudes towards violent discipline methods at school.

Eligibility Criteria

Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study:

12 Years to 65 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study:

All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers:

Yes

Inclusion Criteria:

Written informed consent (if underaged by parents & minors)

Exclusion Criteria:

Acute drug or alcohol intoxication
Acute psychotic disorder

Contacts and Locations

Locations

	Site	City	State	Country	Postal Code
1	Government-aided secondary schools	Mbarara	Southwestern Uganda	Uganda

Sponsors and Collaborators

University of Konstanz
Bielefeld University
Alexander von Humboldt Association

Investigators

Principal Investigator: Tobias Hecker, PhD, Bielefeld University

Study Documents (Full-Text)

None provided.

More Information

Publications

None provided.

Responsible Party:

Prof. Dr. Thomas Elbert, Professor for Clinical Psychology and Behavioural Neuroscience, University of Konstanz

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:

NCT03051854

Other Study ID Numbers:

ICC-T-2017-Uganda

First Posted:

Feb 14, 2017

Last Update Posted:

Oct 1, 2019

Last Verified:

Sep 1, 2019

Individual Participant Data (IPD) Sharing Statement:

Undecided

Plan to Share IPD:

Undecided

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Drug Product:

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Device Product:

Keywords provided by Prof. Dr. Thomas Elbert, Professor for Clinical Psychology and Behavioural Neuroscience, University of Konstanz

Study Results

No Results Posted as of Oct 1, 2019