Evaluation of the Effect of the BOAT® Structured Prevention Program on Violence in Middle Schools (TheBOATeffect)

August 19, 2025 updated by: University Hospital, Montpellier
Violence has major consequences for the health and development of children and teenagers, even though it is commonplace, particularly in secondary schools. The team at the Centre Ressources pour les Intervenants auprès d'Auteurs de Violences Sexuelles Languedoc-Roussillon (CRIAVS-LR, CHU Montpellier) has created a BOite A ouTils to prevent sexual and gender-based violence: the BOAT, for professionals working with children and teenagers aged between 5 and 18. Structured around 5 themes and 4 age groups, the BOAT is very easy to use. The 134 intervention sheets have been validated and designed to target a risk factor (to be reduced) or a protective factor (to be developed) so that children do not become perpetrators or victims of violence.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The study will involve 60 middle school (10 middle school REP/REP+ in six academies) over four consecutive school years between 2023 and 2027, the first year being devoted to preparing the study with the establishment. The research project is coordinated by the Montpellier University Hospital, and regulatory approvals have been sought from the relevant authorities.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

5400

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Locations

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Population of students attending disadvantaged or very disadvantaged middle schools. 60 middle schools will take part in the study, representing a total of 5,400 pupils (one class of ninth graders selected at random per year and per school).

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Middle school students: students enrolled in a middle school included in the study, enrolled in the fourth or ninth grade and randomly selected to participate in the research. The age of a fourth or ninth grader is between 13 and 17.

    • Educational team: professionals and teachers working in a middle school participating in the research (included in the study).

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Schoolchildren: opposition to participation in the search by the child's parents (or one of the 2 parents with parental authority) and/or opposition by the child.
  • Educational team: opposition to participation in the search.
  • Person unable to speak French
  • Person unable to understand the nature, purpose and methodology of the study

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Intervention / Treatment
Group BOAT +

The middle schools in the experimental group will benefit from the BOAT+ intervention, which involves training the school's educational team in the use of the BOAT®. Training is provided each year of the study to 5 members of the BOAT+ college educational team, in the form of e-learning supplemented by two half-day face-to-face sessions.

Trained professionals will use the BOAT® in real-life ecological conditions, according to their needs and educational projects.
Other: The Prevention Toolbox : BOAT®
The Prevention Toolbox targets all forms of violence, but in particular sexual and gender-based violence, through 1 out of 5 themes (Relationships and sexuality) and 10 out of 34 sub-themes. The other 4 themes (Psychosocial skills, Respect and difference, From the virtual to the real, and Understanding and respect for the law) cover all the risk and protection factors for all types of violence.
Group BOAT -

No intervention will be carried out in the colleges of the control group, except to inform parents and educational teams about the research. The educational teams will not be trained to use the BOAT when the study is set up.

These middle schools will benefit from the same annual evaluations (school, students and educational teams) as the BOAT+ middle schools.

If the effect of the BOAT® structured prevention program is positive, the educational teams in the control group (BOAT-) will receive training in the use of the BOAT® at the end of the study.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
changes in the incidence of violent behavior
Time Frame: between the three years preceding the middle school's inclusion (period without intervention) and the three years following the start of the study (period with or without intervention, depending on the intervention arm)
The incidence of violent behavior for each study period will be calculated by dividing the number of violent incidents observed in the school, by the number of schoolchildren monitored over the period (in person/year) in the same school.
between the three years preceding the middle school's inclusion (period without intervention) and the three years following the start of the study (period with or without intervention, depending on the intervention arm)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Students' well-being, substance use, risky sexual behavior and suicidal behavior
Time Frame: every year at the end of the school year during three year
This computerized questionnaire will be sent via a link and completed directly and anonymously via the National Education Digital Workspace.
every year at the end of the school year during three year
Teachers' perceived stress at work will be assessed using the PSS (Perceived Stress Scale) validated in French
Time Frame: every year at the end of the school year during three year
It will be sent to teaching teams and completed anonymously via the ENT (Digital Workspace) offered by the French Ministry of Education.
every year at the end of the school year during three year
School climate will be assessed using an anonymous ICS (Indice of School Climate ) questionnary
Time Frame: every year at the end of the school year during three year
It will be sent to educational teams and completed via the ENT (digital Workspace)
every year at the end of the school year during three year
The frequency of disclosures of violence or abuse during interventions
Time Frame: every year at the end of the school year during three year
in order to guide them towards an appropriate course of care.
every year at the end of the school year during three year
The number of reports (information of concern or alerts)
Time Frame: every year at the end of the school year during three year
The number of reports (information of concern or alerts)
every year at the end of the school year during three year

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University Hospital, Montpellier

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

April 2, 2025

Primary Completion (Estimated)

June 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

September 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 18, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 18, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

June 24, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

August 24, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 19, 2025

Last Verified

August 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • RECHMPL22_0347 /UF 8352

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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