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

Parenting Clinical Trial

Official title:

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

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Active, not recruiting

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT05632237
• Other study ID #: cafo
• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: October 16, 2022
• Est. completion date: March 1, 2023

Study information

• Verified date: January 2023
• Source: Boston College
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial 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.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Enrollment: 226
• Est. completion date: March 1, 2023
• Est. primary completion date: March 1, 2023
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 9 Years and older

Eligibility

Inclusion criteria:

1. Dyads must consist of a principal child (the one whose situation initiated their involvement with the Child Reintegration Centre) and their primary caregiver (as defined by the Child Reintegration Centre as the person in the family primarily responsible for the health and wellbeing of the principal child and is noted as such in their case file)

2. Primary child is ages 9-13

3. Dyad is actively participating in Child Reintegration Centre services (i.e., child must have been seen by the case manager in the last month)

4. Dyad lives in the Bo area. Exclusion criterion: (1) Family has been assessed by the Child Reintegration Centre to be in active crisis, i.e., specific concerns about the child being at-risk or unsafe (suspicions of abuse or neglect).

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Economic Problems
• Emotion Regulation
• Parent-Child Relations
• Parenting

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Family strengthening program
Phase I: 2-day Family Strengthening Workshop. The specific topics included in the workshop include: emotions, Body Progressive Muscle Relaxation, body stretch, self care, apologizing, routines to promote attachment, teamwork, saving, delayed gratification, anticipating unexpected expenses, identifying family strengths and values. Phase II: Case management with family strengthening curriculum. Curriculum is delivered over the course of four visits (about 3 months), some of which involve both caregiver and child while others are just for the caregiver. Topics included are using appropriate discipline, effective communication for family problem-solving, and home budgeting.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Sierra Leone	the Child Reintegration Centre	Bo

Sponsors (4)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Boston College	Child Reintegration Centre, Christian Alliance for Orphans, Helping Children Worldwide

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Sierra Leone, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	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
Primary	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
Primary	Change in caregiver- and child-reported use of punishment by caregiver	Measures developed for this study tailored for context; e.g., flogging child with hand or cane, public shaming, withholding food	Baseline: Up to 2 months before intervention; Endline: Up to 2 months after intervention
Primary	Change in self-reported economic well-being	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	Baseline: Up to 2 months before intervention; Endline: Up to 2 months after intervention
Secondary	Change in child- and caregiver-reported parenting behaviors by caregiver	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	Baseline: Up to 2 months before intervention; Endline: Up to 2 months after intervention