Clinical trial NCT03745573: Preventing Violence Against Children in Schools Study
Official title: Preventing Violence Against Children in Schools: Protocol for a Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial of the EmpaTeach Behavioural Intervention in Nyarugusu Refugee Camp
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: UNKNOWN
Phase: NA
Conditions: Violence, Physical
Violence
Child Abuse
Violence Against Children
Keywords: corporal punishment, teacher violence, school violence, sexual violence
Lead sponsor: London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: National Institutes of Medical Research, Tanzania
name: Innovations for Poverty Action, Tanzania
name: International Rescue Committee
name: Behavioural Insights Team
First posted: 2018-11-19
Enrollment: 2120
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 9
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Intervention model description: Schools will be randomised to receive the intervention or a wait-list control condition. Assignment will be parallel.
Primary purpose: PREVENTION

Brief summary: To date, no interventions to prevent violence in refugee camp schools have ever been rigorously evaluated. The primary objective of this project is to test the effectiveness of the Empateach intervention to prevent physical violence from teachers to students in Nyarugusu Refugee Camp, Tanzania. Secondary objectives are to assess the impact of the Empateach intervention on student's depressive symptoms, experience of emotional violence and educational test scores. A two arm cluster RCT with parallel assignment will be conducted.

Detailed description: School is one of the most common settings where children may experience violence; and emerging evidence suggests that in some settings, school staff may be one of the most common perpetrator of violence against children.To date, no interventions to prevent violence in refugee camp schools have ever been rigorously evaluated. The primary objective of this project is to test the effectiveness of the Empateach intervention to prevent physical violence from teachers to students in Nyarugusu Refugee Camp, Tanzania. Secondary objectives are to assess the impact of the Empateach intervention on student's depressive symptoms, experience of emotional violence and educational test scores.

The aim of the Empateach intervention is to improve 'student and teacher well-being; self-regulation; teacher classroom management and teacher's use of positive discipline techniques'. Participants in the intervention condition will receive a 10-week group intervention.

A two arm cluster RCT will be conducted, with parallel assignment and an approximately 1:1 allocation ratio. Cross-sectional surveys of students will be conducted at three time points: a baseline, a midline immediately after the 10 week intervention; and an endline 6 months after then end of the intervention. The primary outcome, violence from school staff to students, will be measured using an adapted version of the ICAST-CI.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* At the school level, all 27 primary and secondary schools in Nyarugusu refugee camp in Tanzania, will be eligible. The intervention is delivered to individual teachers, and all teachers working in included schools will be eligible to receive the intervention. The hypothesized intervention effect will be in all students being taught by participating teachers; however we will measure effects of the intervention in students who are aged 9 years and over. Data will be collected from both students and teachers.
* At the level of individual students, all students who can speak Kirundi or Swahili, and who are capable of providing assent, will be eligible to participate
* At the level of individual teachers, all teachers who can speak Kirundi or Swahili, and who are capable of providing informed consent, will be eligible to participate

Exclusion Criteria:

* there are no exclusion criteria at the School level
* for individual students, those who cannot speak Kirundi or Swahili, or who are not capable of providing assent
* for individual teachers, those who cannot speak Kirundi or Swahili, or who are not capable of providing informed consent

Primary outcomes:
measure: physical violence
timeFrame: Assessed at 10-week follow-up
Secondary outcomes:
measure: physical violence
timeFrame: Assessed at 6-month follow-up
measure: emotional violence
timeFrame: past 1 week; assessed at 10-week and 6-month follow-up
measure: depressive symptoms
timeFrame: past 2 weeks; assessed at 10-week and 6-month follow-up
measure: educational performance
timeFrame: assessed at the end of the school year, about 11-12 months from baseline
Other outcomes:
Locations:
Study officials:
affiliation: London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
name: Karen M Devries, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Fabbri C, Rodrigues K, Leurent B, Allen E, Qiu M, Zuakulu M, Nombo D, Kaemingk M, De Filippo A, Torrats-Espinosa G, Shayo E, Barongo V, Greco G, Tol W, Devries KM. The EmpaTeach intervention for reducing physical violence from teachers to students in Nyarugusu Refugee Camp: A cluster-randomised controlled trial. PLoS Med. 2021 Oct 4;18(10):e1003808. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1003808. eCollection 2021 Oct.
citation: Devries KM, Fabbri C, Allen E, Barongo V, Shayo E, Greco G, Kaemingk M, Qiu M, Steinacher R, Tol W, Rodrigues K. Preventing violence against children in schools (PVACS): protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial of the EmpaTeach behavioural intervention in Nyarugusu refugee camp. BMC Public Health. 2019 Oct 15;19(1):1295. doi: 10.1186/s12889-019-7627-y.