Clinical trial NCT02415933: Child Protective Outcomes Among Ultra-poor Families in Burkina Faso
Official title: Evaluating Child Protective Effects of Economic Strengthening and Child Rights Interventions Among Ultra-poor Families in Burkina Faso
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Child Abuse
Child Maltreatment
Keywords: Burkina Faso
West Africa
Children
Child Abuse
Child Mental Health
Economic Empowerment
Women's Empowerment
Domestic Violence
Child and Family Well-being
Child Separation
Child Labor
Child Maltreatment
Lead sponsor: University of Chicago
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: TrickleUp
name: Women's Refugee Commission
name: Aide aux Enfants et aux Familles Démunies (ADEFAD)
name: Network of European Foundations (NEF)
name: Child Protection Working Group (UNICEF)
name: Bernard van Leer Foundation
name: Oak Foundation
name: UBS Optimus Foundation
name: University of California, Los Angeles
First posted: 2015-04-14
Enrollment: 720
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 10
Maximum age (years): 15
Standard ages: CHILD
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: PREVENTION

Brief summary: This study tests the effects of family-based economic empowerment intervention, alone and in combination with child rights sensitization component, on child protective outcomes among ultra-poor families in Nord Region, Burkina Faso.

Detailed description: This study evaluates a combined economic empowerment and child rights intervention to prevent violence against children and exploitation of children in ultra-poor communities in Burkina Faso. This evaluation study takes place in the Nord Region of Burkina Faso which is located in the Sahel Desert on the border to Mali. The Nord Region is characterized by extreme poverty and an ongoing food and nutrition crisis due to cyclical droughts. Extreme poverty heightens risks of violence and exploitation of children, particularly girls, who may end up in the worst forms of child labor as defined by the UN (e.g., slavery, debt bondage, forced or hazardous work in gold mines, cotton fields, or plantations in the Ivory Coast or in the South of Burkina Faso, involving physical deprivation and violence). About 1.25 million (or 37.8%) of children ages 5-14 in Burkina Faso are working to augment the incomes of their families, or because their families are too poor to support them. Adolescent girls being sent away to work as maids, facing risks of sexual exploitation and abuse. Boys being sent to religious schools madrassas, where they are made to do unpaid and/or hazardous work including begging in the street, and are subject to physical abuse.

The study employs a 3-arm cluster (group) randomized control trial design with baseline and one-year follow-up and includes 360 households (120 households per arm). Each selected household includes a female primary caregiver with a child between the ages of 10-15 who is also able to participate in the evaluation study. The study evaluates the efficacy of an economic empowerment program (Trickle Up) and a combination economic empowerment and child rights sensitization program (Trickle Up Plus) to prevent child separation and potential subsequent exposure to exploitation, abuse, and hazardous working conditions among children. Randomization occurred at the village level to assign households to three study arms: Trickle Up, Trickle Up Plus or the wait-list condition which serves as the control arm. Participants were recruited from 12 impoverished comparable villages that were selected based on socio-economic status (poverty ranking and food insecurity), geography, population size, and distance from urban center. Within these communities, families living in ultra-poverty were identified using a Participatory Wealth Ranking (PWR) exercise.

The evaluation study is implemented in partnership with the Trickle Up organization, Women's Refugee Council (WRC), and Aide aux Enfants et aux Families Démunies (ADEFAD).

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

Households that meet the following eligibility criteria will be invited to participate in the study:

1. Household meets locally defined poverty criteria (classified as an ultrapoor household);
2. Mother or female caregiver of at least one child between the ages of 10 and 15.
3. Child is between the ages of 10 and 15.
4. Male head of household provides permission for his wife and child to participate in the study;
5. Eligible child and female caregiver/parent can commit to study participation.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Household doesn't meet locally defined poverty criteria (classified as an ultrapoor household);
2. Mother or female caregiver doesn't have at least one child between the ages of 10 and 15.
3. Child is not between the ages of 10 and 15.
4. Male head of household does not provide permission for his wife and child to participate in the study;
5. Eligible child or mother/female caregiver cannot commit to study participation.

Participants are also excluded from participation in the study if the child or the parent is assessed to have a cognitive impairment that would interfere with their ability to provide informed consent and participate in the study.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Change in Child Protection
timeFrame: Baseline, 12 months, 24 months
measure: Change in Exposure to Child Abuse
timeFrame: Baseline, 12 months, 24 months
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Change in Child Mental Health
timeFrame: Baseline, 12 months, 24 months
Other outcomes:
measure: Change in Mother's Level of Depression
timeFrame: Baseline, 12 months, 24 months
measure: Change in Mother's Level of Anxiety
timeFrame: Baseline, 12 months, 24 months
Locations:
city: Ouagadougou
country: Burkina Faso
facility: Trickle Up Burkina Faso
Study officials:
affiliation: University of Chicago
name: Leyla Ismayilova, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Ismayilova L, Gaveras E, Blum A, To-Camier A, Nanema R. Maltreatment and Mental Health Outcomes among Ultra-Poor Children in Burkina Faso: A Latent Class Analysis. PLoS One. 2016 Oct 20;11(10):e0164790. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0164790. eCollection 2016.
citation: Karimli L, Rost L, Ismayilova L. Integrating Economic Strengthening and Family Coaching to Reduce Work-Related Health Hazards Among Children of Poor Households: Burkina Faso. J Adolesc Health. 2018 Jan;62(1S):S6-S14. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2017.07.007.
citation: Ismayilova L, Karimli L. Harsh Parenting and Violence Against Children: A Trial with Ultrapoor Families in Francophone West Africa. J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol. 2020 Jan-Feb;49(1):18-35. doi: 10.1080/15374416.2018.1485103. Epub 2018 Aug 15.
citation: Ismayilova L, Karimli L, Sanson J, Gaveras E, Nanema R, To-Camier A, Chaffin J. Improving mental health among ultra-poor children: Two-year outcomes of a cluster-randomized trial in Burkina Faso. Soc Sci Med. 2018 Jul;208:180-189. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.04.022. Epub 2018 May 7.
citation: Ismayilova L, Karimli L, Gaveras E, To-Camier A, Sanson J, Chaffin J, Nanema R. An Integrated Approach to Increasing Women's Empowerment and Reducing Domestic Violence: Results of a Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial in a West African Country. Psychol Violence. 2018 Jul;8(4):448-459. doi: 10.1037/vio0000136. Epub 2017 Aug 7.
citation: Karimli, L., Bose, B., & Kagotho, N. (2019). Integrated Graduation Program and its Effect on Women and Household Economic Well-being: Findings from a Randomised Controlled Trial in Burkina Faso. The Journal of Development Studies, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220388.2019.1677887