Schools Championing Safe South Africa

Phase 1

Completed

• Conditions: Prevention or Reduction of HIV Risk Behavior; Prevention or Reduction of Intimate Partner Violence
• Interventions: Behavioral: Schools Championing Safe South Africa

• 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.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2023-01-31
• Study First Submitted: 2023-05-11
• Study First Submitted QC: 2023-05-19
• Study First Posted: 2023-05-22
• Primary Completion: 2023-10-18
• Status Verified: 2024-05
• Study Completion: 2024-05-13
• Last Update Submitted: 2024-05-13
• Last Update Posted: 2024-05-14

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

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Exclusion Criteria

• unable to secure parental consent
• unable to secure parental consent child assent

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Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Intervention	Schools Championing Safe South Africa	Half of the participants in the pilot will receive the experimental behavioral intervention.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Feasibility of recruitment and retention of participants	6 months	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.
Rate of acceptability of the intervention to participants	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.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Prevention or reduction of attempted or completed acts of intimate partner violence	6 months	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.
Prevention or reduction of sexual behavior related to HIV acquisition risk.	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 whether rates of sexual risk behavior including actual or intended acts of unprotected sex decrease.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

South African Medical Research Council; 🇿🇦 Cape Town, South Africa