Evaluation of a Family Strengthening Program Evaluation in Sierra Leone to Prevent Family Separation

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Parenting; Emotion Regulation; Parent-Child Relations; Economic Problems
• Interventions: Behavioral: Family strengthening program

• Registration Number: NCT05632237
• Lead Sponsor: Boston College

Brief Summary

In Sierra Leone, poverty and challenges with family functioning can lead to family separation, and children may go to live on the street or enter residential care institutions/orphanages. Helping Children Worldwide (HCW), a non-profit organization with over 20 years of experience in Sierra Leone, has developed a two-part Family Strengthening Program delivered by their program partners in Sierra Leone, the Child Reintegration Centre, to improve families financial literacy and attachment between caregivers and children, with the ultimate goal of preventing family separation. The hypothesis of this study is that the Family Strengthening Program program is effective at (1) changing parenting behaviors, (2) improving emotional regulation, (3) improving caregiver-child attachment, and (4) improving financial literacy in dyads consisting of children ages 9-13 and their caregivers.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2022-10-16
• Study First Submitted: 2022-11-09
• Study First Submitted QC: 2022-11-18
• Study First Posted: 2022-11-30
• Primary Completion: 2023-05-22
• Study Completion: 2023-05-22
• Status Verified: 2024-08
• Last Update Submitted: 2025-04-16
• Last Update Posted: 2025-04-20

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 226

Inclusion Criteria

Not provided

Exclusion Criteria

Not provided

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Family strengthening program	Family strengthening program	-

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change in self-reported economic well-being	Baseline: Up to 2 months before intervention; Endline: Up to 2 months after intervention	Measures developed for this study tailored for context and intervention content; e.g., awareness of income/spending, saving and budgeting behaviors, ability to pay for unexpected expense
Change in child attachment as measured by the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA)	Baseline: Up to 2 months before intervention; Endline: Up to 2 months after intervention
Caregiver and child change in emotional regulation as measured by the Difficulties in Emotional Regulation (DERS) scale	Baseline: Up to 2 months before intervention; Endline: Up to 2 months after intervention
Change in caregiver- and child-reported use of punishment by caregiver	Baseline: Up to 2 months before intervention; Endline: Up to 2 months after intervention	Measures developed for this study tailored for context; e.g., flogging child with hand or cane, public shaming, withholding food

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change in child- and caregiver-reported parenting behaviors by caregiver	Baseline: Up to 2 months before intervention; Endline: Up to 2 months after intervention	Measures developed for this study tailored for context and intervention content; e.g., asking child about their life, spending one-on-one time with child, physically showing affection, giving compliments/praise, using a routine, apologizing, providing emotional support

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

the Child Reintegration Centre; 🇸🇱 Bo, Sierra Leone