Combining Agribusiness and Parent Training to Reduce the Risk of Violence Against Children in Rural Tanzania: A Small Scale Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

Introduction:  Parenting programs have been shown to reduce the risk of violence against children and improve child wellbeing in high-income countries. There is also emerging evidence regarding their effectiveness in low- and middle-income countries. However, in highly-deprived communities, parenting programs may require additional economic support to address the negative impact of poverty on parenting and risk of abuse. This study uses a small-scale cluster randomized controlled trial to examine the differential effects of parenting and economic strengthening programs in order to reduce the risk of violence against children in impoverished farming communities in rural Tanzania.

Methods:  Participating rural villages in northern Tanzania were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: (a) a 12-session group-based parenting program that includes five sessions on parenting skills, two sessions on child protection, and five sessions on family budgeting; (b) an agribusiness training program; (c) a combination of parenting and agribusiness programs; (d) or a 1-year wait-list control (N= 8 villages, 247 families, 2:2:2:2 arm ratios). Adult, youth, and early childhood assessments were conducted a baseline, mid-treatment midway through the agribusiness training program and after the parenting groups received the components on parenting skills and child protection, and 1-year post-baseline after all of the interventions were completed. Primary outcomes included harsh and positive parenting as well as attitudes towards corporal punishment. Secondary outcomes included household poverty, parenting stress, caregiver/child depression, child behavior, nutrition, development, and labor.

Results: Post-treatment data collection occurred from September to November 2016. As a result, endline results will only be ready by January 2016. Preliminary data analyses at mid-treatment assessment showed significant intervention effects for reduced frequency of child maltreatment and parental attitudes supporting corporal punishment in villages allocated to either the parenting or combined intervention in comparison to controls. No differences were found for positive parenting or any other secondary outcomes at mid-treatment assessment.

Conclusions:  This is the first study to test the impact of combining parenting and economic strengthening programs to reduce violence against children in a low- and middle-income country. Mid-treatment assessments suggest that the parenting component may be the active ingredient in reducing violence against children. However, in the absence of improvements in positive parenting or other outcomes, it remains to be seen whether reduced risks of violence are maintained at post-treatment assessment, or whether there is an additive benefit of economic strengthening after the completion of the agribusiness training component.