Schools Championing Safe South Africa

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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This study explores the acceptability and feasibility of a school-based intervention called Schools Championing Safe South Africa that engages teachers and students in an integrated approach for preventing risk behavior related to acquisition of HIV and perpetration of IPV among adolescents in South Africa. Teachers and students are agents of change who can transform the school social environment to promote HIV and IPV prevention behaviors for adolescents.

Detailed Description
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Adolescence presents an ideal developmental transition period for an integrated intervention targeting prevention of HIV risk behaviors and intimate partner violence (IPV) including sexual violence. Adolescent boys in particular, are at high risk for HIV and perpetration of IPV. Yet, few behavioral interventions integrate HIV-IPV prevention and are tailored for the unique developmental needs of adolescent boys. Educational environments play a vital role in shaping behavioral choices among adolescent boys. Specifically, teachers and student peers serve as agents of change for adolescent boys' HIV and IPV prevention needs in four important ways. First, teachers and student peers influence community norms for appropriate adolescent male behaviors relating to dating, relationships, and sexual violence within the school ecology. Second, teachers and student peers have persistent contact with adolescents and thus, can play an influential role in adolescents' lives as role models for healthy norms. Third, teachers and student peers substantively motivate and reinforce protective behaviors relating to prevention of HIV and IPV. Fourth, teachers are ideally prepared to deliver age- and developmentally-tailored preventive interventions to adolescents because they are professionally trained to engage with adolescents in age and developmentally appropriate teaching. Despite the important role of teachers and student peers in promoting the health of adolescents, there are currently no HIV-IPV interventions in global priority settings for these epidemics that target teachers and student peers in school environments. In this study, we will develop and then investigate the acceptability and feasibility of Schools Championing Safe South Africa, an integrated HIV-IPV intervention where teachers and student peers engage adolescent boys in a developmentally-tailored approach to prevent adolescent HIV risk behavior and IPV using a social norms approach. Investigators work in South Africa, a country with the largest HIV epidemic and some of the highest rates of IPV in the world. This study explores the acceptability and feasibility of a school-based intervention called Schools Championing Safe South Africa that engages teachers and students in an integrated approach for preventing risk behavior related to acquisition of HIV and perpetration of IPV among adolescents in South Africa. Teachers and students are agents of change who can transform the school social environment to promote HIV and IPV prevention behaviors for adolescents.

Official Title
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Schools Championing Safe South Africa: An Intervention Engaging Teachers and Students in Adolescent Prevention of HIV Risk and Intimate Partner Violence

Conditions
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Prevention or Reduction of HIV Risk Behavior, Prevention or Reduction of Intimate Partner Violence

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Schools Championing Safe South Africa


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: identifies as boy 15-17 years of age inclusive attends school where study is occurring Exclusion Criteria: unable to secure parental consent unable to secure parental consent child assent

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 15 Years
Maximum Age: 17 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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Male

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Prevention
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Interventional Model Description: The primary goal of this study is to assess acceptability of the behavioral intervention in a small group of participants and to determine feasibility of the study design for a future fully-powered clinical trial. The secondary goal of this study is to evaluate under-powered directions of behavior change relating to prevention or reduction of HIV risk behavior and intimate partner violence.
Masking: Single


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Intervention<br>Half of the participants in the pilot will receive the experimental behavioral intervention. | Behavioral: Schools Championing Safe South Africa<br>* The intervention consists of 2 parts - a poster campaign with social norms messages on violence and HIV risk, and 2 lessons in life orientation (a health curriculum delivered during school).<br>|
| No Intervention: Control<br>Half of the participants in the pilot will receive nothing, and serve as the control. | |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Rate of acceptability of the intervention to participants | Client Satisfaction Questionnaire - Using the client satisfaction questionnaire, investigators will measure satisfaction using likert scale responses that range from 1 to 5 with 5 aligning with high satisfaction with the intervention. Investigators are aiming for 80% of more of participants with rankings of satisfied or higher. | 6 months | 
| Feasibility of recruitment and retention of participants | There is no scale for feasibility. Investigators will look at recruitment rates. Investigators will look at retention rates. Feasibility will be aligned with 75% or higher retention rates at the follow-up timepoints. | 6 months | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Prevention or reduction of sexual behavior related to HIV acquisition risk. | This is an underpowered outcome because the primary goal of this study is not to evaluate efficacy. There is no scale for these behaviors. For this secondary outcome, investigators will examine whether rates of sexual risk behavior including actual or intended acts of unprotected sex decrease. | 6 months | 
| Prevention or reduction of attempted or completed acts of intimate partner violence | This is an underpowered outcome because the primary goal of this study is not to evaluate efficacy. For this secondary outcome, investigators will examine if there is a decrease in incidents of attempted and completed acts of sexual violence. | 6 months |