Schools Championing Safe South Africa

Phase 1

Completed

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

Registration Number: NCT05869864

Lead Sponsor: Brown University

Brief Summary: 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: 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.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status: COMPLETED

Sex: Male

Target Recruitment: 282

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

Study & Design

Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL

Study Design: PARALLEL

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Number of Participants Who Expressed Satisfaction With the Intervention	6 months	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. The questionnaire is based off of the following measure: Larsen DL, Attkisson CC, Hargreaves WA, Nguyen TD. Assessment of client/patient satisfaction: Development of a general scale. Evaluation and Program Planning. 1979;2:197-207. Only participants in the intervention arm answer questions on satisfaction with the intervention.
Number of Participants Who Were Retained At the 6-month Time Point	6 months	There is no scale for feasibility. Investigators will look at retention rates. Feasibility will be aligned with 75% or higher retention rates at the 6 month timepoint.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Prevention or Reduction of Sexual Behavior Related to HIV Acquisition Risk as Measured Through the Percent of Participants Engaged in Lifetime Condom Use.	6 months	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 the percent of participants who engaged in lifetime condom use. This will be reported for each arm, comparing percentages engaged in lifetime condom use at the 6-month time point for each arm separately.
Prevention or Reduction of Attempted or Completed Acts of Intimate Partner Violence Using Mary Koss's Short Form Sexual Violence Perpetration Scale At the 1-month Time Point	1 month	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. The percentage of participants engaged in any completed act of sexual perpetration - defined as 1 or more acts of forced touching, oral sex, anal sex, and/or vaginal sex - will be compared for the intervention arm, looking at baseline versus 1 month. Similarly, the percentage of participants engaged in any completed act of sexual perpetration - defined as 1 or more acts of forced touching, oral sex, anal sex, and/or vaginal sex - will be compared for the control arm, looking at baseline versus 1 month.