A hybrid digital parenting programme to prevent abuse of adolescents in Tanzania: study protocol for a pragmatic cluster-randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Evidence-based parenting programmes have strong evidence in preventing and mitigating violence, but in-person programmes are challenging to deliver at scale. ParentApp is an open-source, offline-first app-based adaptation of the Parenting for Lifelong Health for Parents and Teens programme to promote playful and positive parenting, reduce risks for sexual violence victimisation, and prevent violence against adolescents. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of ParentApp compared to an attention-control group. METHODS: This study is a two-arm pragmatic cluster-randomised controlled trial to test whether ParentApp reduces adolescent physical abuse, emotional abuse, and sexual violence risks and victimisation at 1 month and 12 months post-intervention. Caregivers of adolescents aged 10-17 years and their adolescent children (N = 2400 caregiver-adolescent dyads) will be recruited in urban and peri-urban communities in the Mwanza region of Tanzania. A total of 80 study clusters will be stratified and randomised (1:1) to the intervention group, who will receive ParentApp with support through a WhatsApp group, or to an attention-control group, who will receive a water, sanitation, and hygiene app. Quantitative data will be collected through outcomes questionnaires with caregivers and adolescents, administered at baseline, 4 months post-baseline, and 16 months post-baseline, as well as through routine implementation data and ParentApp engagement data. Qualitative data will be collected through individual interviews and focus groups with caregivers, adolescents, and implementing partner staff. DISCUSSION: App-based interventions have the potential to expand access to evidence-based parenting support, but currently lack rigorous evidence in low- and middle-income countries. This is the first known randomised control trial of a hybrid digital parenting programme to prevent the abuse of adolescents in low- and middle-income settings. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The trial was registered on the Open Science Framework on 14 March 2023, registration: OSF.IO/T9FXZ .

'It provides practical tips, practical solutions!': acceptability, usability, and satisfaction of a digital parenting intervention across African countries.

The parenting evidence base is well established, and the question is how best to transfer the evidence to an app. App-based interventions could expand access to evidence-based parenting support; however, current provision lacks rigorous evidence, shows low user engagement, and is primarily for commercial gain. This study aimed at testing the feasibility and acceptability of ParentApp for Teens, an open-source, mobile parenting intervention application based on the Parenting for Lifelong Health Teens programme targeting parents of teens. The objective was to gather feedback from users on the relevance, acceptability, satisfaction, and usability of ParentApp for Teens across contexts in Africa, and subsequently, use the feedback to improve the app experience for target users. Caregivers and their adolescents aged 10-17 years, from nine different countries, were purposefully selected for user testing. The study involved 18 caregivers participating in the programme by using the app for 13 weeks and providing feedback on it through remote, semi-structured interviews that explored the app's acceptability and usability. Adolescents of six caregivers were also interviewed. Data were analysed thematically. Participants expressed a high level of satisfaction with the app's content and described it as easy to use and useful. However, views on the app's animated characters varied. Although effectiveness was not a primary aim of the user testing, several caregivers commented that they perceived their participation in the study had helped to enforce positive parenting skills in themselves. Adolescents' data supported the caregivers' reports of less harsh parenting and improved relationships between caregivers and their children due to the caregivers' participation in the study. Findings indicate the app could be relevant and acceptable in participants' communities, but possible barriers to its uptake may be lack of android smartphones, lack of data for app download, and inability of non-literate caregivers to read the content.

Clinic and care: associations with adolescent antiretroviral therapy adherence in a prospective cohort in South Africa.

OBJECTIVE: Adolescent antiretroviral treatment (ART) adherence remains critically low. We lack research testing protective factors across both clinic and care environments. DESIGN: A prospective cohort of adolescents living with HIV (sample n = 969, 55% girls, baseline mean age 13.6) in the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa were interviewed at baseline and 18-month follow-up (2014-2015, 2015-2016). We traced all adolescents ever initiated on treatment in 52 government health facilities (90% uptake, 93% 18-month retention, 1.2% mortality). METHODS: Clinical records were collected; standardized questionnaires were administered by trained data collectors in adolescents' language of choice. Probit within-between regressions and average adjusted probability calculations were used to examine associations of caregiving and clinic factors with adherence, controlling for household structure, socioeconomic and HIV factors. RESULTS: Past-week ART adherence was 66% (baseline), 65% (follow-up), validated against viral load in subsample. Within-individual changes in three factors were associated with improved adherence: no physical and emotional violence (12.1 percentage points increase in adjusted probability of adherence, P < 0.001), improvement in perceived healthcare confidentiality (7.1 percentage points, P < 0.04) and shorter travel time to the clinic (13.7 percentage points, P < 0.02). In combination, improvement in violence prevention, travel time and confidentiality were associated with 81% probability of ART adherence, compared with 47% with a worsening in all three. CONCLUSION: Adolescents living with HIV need to be safe at home and feel safe from stigma in an accessible clinic. This will require active collaboration between health and child protection systems, and utilization of effective violence prevention interventions.

Power to participants: methodological and ethical reflections from a decade of adolescent advisory groups in South Africa.

ABSTRACTWhilst the HIV response has made significant progress in increasing representation of adults affected by HIV, the meaningful inclusion of children and adolescents has lagged. But this may be a pivotal moment of change. We report on a decade of conducting adolescent advisory groups in South Africa, to reflect on youth advisory processes. Data was collected from 2008 to 2018 from adolescent advisors (n = 60) and researchers (n = 25), and included feedback sessions, social media, anonymous "post-boxes" and interviews. Findings include the value of adolescent involvement in multiple stages of research co-creation and engagement in policy processes, the need for a safe environment and supporting adolescents living in extreme vulnerability. We also discuss the reconfiguring of power and personal relationships, and logistical and financial needs of adolescent advisory groups. Findings suggest that adolescent co-creation of research is feasible, even with very vulnerable adolescents, although ethical considerations need to be carefully addressed. Benefits include increased methodological rigour, enhanced adolescent acceptability of research and the recalibration of research dynamics for the empowerment of their target beneficiaries. Future studies could benefit from meaningfully involving adolescents through youth advisory groups.