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School-based Prevention of Teacher Violence Against Children: A Cluster-randomized Controlled Trial in Zambia (ICC-T Zambia)

14 agosto 2026 aggiornato da: Tobias Hecker, PhD

The United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child UN General Assembly, 1989), outlawed violence against children worldwide. Yet, 75% of all children worldwide - experience violence while growing up (Know Violence in Childhood, 2017). In Low- and Middle-Income countries prevalence rates at home and at school are higher (Hoeffler, 2017), with particularly high rates in Africa (Hecker et al., 2018; Nkuba, Hermenau, & Hecker, 2018; Hillis et al., 2016). Violence against children is related to negative mental health outcomes, lower quality in the child-adult relationship, lower cognitive functioning, and emotional and behavioural problems that begin in childhood and may persist through adolescence until adulthood (Berlin et al., 2009; Gershoff & Grogan-Kaylor, 2016; Hecker et al., 2016; Kim & Cicchetti, 2010; Majer et al., 2010; Mills et al., 2011; Newbury et al., 2018; Wilson et al., 2009).

The present study focuses on violent discipline in schools, as (1) many children are subjected to violent discipline at school on a regular basis, and (2) teachers justify violent discipline since they want to encourage better academic performance and maintain children's discipline (Masath et al., 2022). As in other African countries (Hecker et al., 2018; Nkuba, Hermenau, & Hecker, 2018; Hillis et al., 2016), violent discipline is prevalent in Zambian schools, despite its prohibition in 2022 (End Corporal Punishment, 2025).

With this study we test the intervention Interaction Competencies with Children - for Teachers (ICC-T; Kirika & Hecker, 2022) to alleviate violence against children. ICC-T is a manualised 5,5 days training workshop focusing on the basic competencies in the work with children, including non-violent action alternatives. Previous cluster randomized controlled trail studies on ICC-T in Tanzania and Uganda showed that teachers who participated in ICC-T, used significantly less violent discipline measures against children compared to teachers in the control group. The transferability of the intervention to and the effectiveness in the Zambian context remains unclear. Evidence from our research may guide policy makers to implement further measures aiming at ending violence against children.

Panoramica dello studio

Stato

Reclutamento

Condizioni

Intervento / Trattamento

Descrizione dettagliata

We will use a two-armed school-based CRCT including up to 30 primary schools in the Eastern Province of Zambia (Petauke and Lusangazi). The schools will be combined into 12 school clusters, 6 of the 12 school clusters will be randomly allocated to the intervention group, which will receive the ICC-T workshop, and the remaining schools will be allocated to the control group without any intervention. The study will include two data collection phases: (1) a baseline assessment before the intervention allocation, and (2) a follow-up assessment approximately six months after the allocation and delivery of the intervention.

The study will begin with the baseline assessment involving teachers and students in all schools (May-July 2026). Then the intervention period, follows during school holidays (August 2026). The intervention will involve the Interaction Competencies with Children - for Teachers (ICC-T). Teachers from the selected schools will be trained in ICC-T on 5,5 days consecutively. A local team of ICC-T trainers, trained extensively by our research team, will implement the interventions. Also, all training will take place within school premises. A follow-up assessment with teachers and students will be conducted at all schools approximately six months after the intervention.

Approximately 30-35 randomly selected students from the third year of formal schooling per school cluster will be invited to participate. In addition, 20 to 25 teachers per school cluster will be invited to participate in the present study. This results in a baseline sample size of approximately 400 students and approximately 300 teachers across the 12 school clusters.

Primary outcome measures are student-, and teacher-reported physical and emotional violence by the teachers in the past week. Secondary outcome measures include adult-child relationship quality, attitudes and norms towards violence, children's emotional and behavioral problems, quality of life, peer victimization, teachers' and children's stress level, teachers empathy change in perspective and self-efficacy.

Tipo di studio

Interventistico

Iscrizione (Stimato)

700

Fase

  • Non applicabile

Contatti e Sedi

Questa sezione fornisce i recapiti di coloro che conducono lo studio e informazioni su dove viene condotto lo studio.

Contatto studio

Backup dei contatti dello studio

Luoghi di studio

Criteri di partecipazione

I ricercatori cercano persone che corrispondano a una certa descrizione, chiamata criteri di ammissibilità. Alcuni esempi di questi criteri sono le condizioni generali di salute di una persona o trattamenti precedenti.

Criteri di ammissibilità

Età idonea allo studio

  • Bambino
  • Adulto
  • Adulto più anziano

Accetta volontari sani

Sì

Descrizione

Inclusion Criteria:

Schools:

  • public primary school (state owned schools, guided by Zambian education policy)
  • at least 35 students in the selected grade (3th school grade). o if it has less than 35 students in a grade, then it will be combined with nearby selected public primary school which must be within 15 km from the respective and an equal number from each school cluster will be selected to participate in the study.
  • at least 8 but no more than 50 employed teachers. o in case of less than 25 teachers, the selected school will form a school cluster together with another near-by (i.e., within 15 km) public primary school.

All participants:

• Written informed consent (if underaged by parents (written) & minors themselves (orally)

Students:

  • being enrolled in third school grade of public primary school.
  • being of age between 8 and 13 years.

Teachers:

  • being employed at an eligible school.
  • being open to participate in the intervention during school holidays.

Facilitators:

  • Ideally people holding a BA degree in psychology, social work, social sciences
  • Interest in the work with children
  • Being open minded and motivated
  • Balance of gender in the team of enumerators

Exclusion Criteria:

Schools:

• Schools participating in the sponsorship program of Save the Children will be excluded.

Students:

• severe mental disabilities that make it impossible to follow the interview questions.

Teachers:

• acute intoxication of alcohol, drugs or any other substance which make it impossible to follow the interview questions.

Piano di studio

Questa sezione fornisce i dettagli del piano di studio, compreso il modo in cui lo studio è progettato e ciò che lo studio sta misurando.

Come è strutturato lo studio?

Dettagli di progettazione

  • Scopo principale: Prevenzione
  • Assegnazione: Randomizzato
  • Modello interventistico: Assegnazione parallela
  • Mascheramento: Separare

Armi e interventi

Gruppo di partecipanti / Arm
Intervento / Trattamento
Nessun intervento: Controllo
nessun intervento
Sperimentale: Interaction Competencies with Children
ICC-T: 5,5 days of training for teachers. Core training components include teacher-student interaction, maltreatment prevention, effective discipline strategies, identifying and supporting burdened students and implementation of the training materials into the school setting.
Interaction Competencies with Children - for Teachers (ICC-T) Core training components include teacher-student interaction, maltreatment prevention, effective discipline strategies, identifying and supporting burdened students and implementation of the training materials into the school setting.

Cosa sta misurando lo studio?

Misure di risultato primarie

Misura del risultato
Misura Descrizione
Lasso di tempo
Reduction of teachers' use of emotional and physical violence
Lasso di tempo: The CTS will be used at T1 (baseline, prior to intervention) and T2 (follow-up, 6 months after intervention)
The Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS) will be used to assess teachers' use of emotional and physical violent discipline measures against children in the past week. Higher scores indicate higher levels of violence that is used by teachers. A stronger reduction of violence used by teachers of the intervention group compared to the control group is hypothesized.
The CTS will be used at T1 (baseline, prior to intervention) and T2 (follow-up, 6 months after intervention)
Reduction of children's exposure to emotional and physical violence by teachers
Lasso di tempo: The CTS will be used at T1 (baseline, prior to intervention) and T2 (follow-up, 6 months after intervention)
The Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS) supported by pictures will be used to assess children's self-reported experiences of emotional and physical violence by teachers at school in the past week. Higher scores indicate higher levels of violence that is used by teachers. A stronger reduction of exposure to violence in the children of teachers of the intervention group compared to the control group is hypothesized.
The CTS will be used at T1 (baseline, prior to intervention) and T2 (follow-up, 6 months after intervention)

Misure di risultato secondarie

Misura del risultato
Misura Descrizione
Lasso di tempo
Change of teachers' attitudes towards emotional and physical violence
Lasso di tempo: The adapted version of CTS will be used at T1 (baseline, prior to intervention) and T2 (follow-up, 6 months after intervention)
Teachers' attitudes towards emotional and physical violence will be assessed with an adapted version of the Conflict Tactic Scale (CTS). Higher scores indicate higher levels of positive attitudes towards violence. A stronger reduction of favorable attitudes towards violence of teachers of the intervention group compared to the control group is hypothesized.
The adapted version of CTS will be used at T1 (baseline, prior to intervention) and T2 (follow-up, 6 months after intervention)
Reduction of teachers' perceived stress
Lasso di tempo: The Teacher Stress Inventory will be used at T1 (baseline, prior to intervention) and T2 (follow-up, 6 months after intervention)
The Teachers Stress Inventory will assess the perceived stress of teachers reported by teachers. Higher scores indicate higher levels of stress. A stronger decrease of teachers' perceived stress in the intervention group compared to the control group is hypothesized.
The Teacher Stress Inventory will be used at T1 (baseline, prior to intervention) and T2 (follow-up, 6 months after intervention)
Improvement of teachers' relationships with colleagues
Lasso di tempo: The Teachers' Relationship with Colleagues Scale will be used at T1 (baseline, prior to intervention) and T2 (follow-up, 6 months after intervention)
Teachers' Relationship with Colleagues with a Subscale of the Teacher Responsibility Scale will assess the relationship of teachers with colleagues reported by teachers. Higher scores indicate better relationships. A stronger increase of teachers' perceived relationship quality with colleagues in the intervention group compared to the control group is hypothesized.
The Teachers' Relationship with Colleagues Scale will be used at T1 (baseline, prior to intervention) and T2 (follow-up, 6 months after intervention)
Improvement of teachers' relationships with students
Lasso di tempo: The Student-Teacher Relationship Scale will be used at T1 (baseline, prior to intervention) and T2 (follow-up, 6 months after intervention)
The Student-Teacher Relationship Scale will assess the relationship of teachers with students reported by teachers. Higher scores indicate better relationships. A stronger increase of teachers' perceived relationship quality with students in the intervention group compared to the control group is hypothesized.
The Student-Teacher Relationship Scale will be used at T1 (baseline, prior to intervention) and T2 (follow-up, 6 months after intervention)
Increase of empathy and change in perspective by teachers
Lasso di tempo: The Empathy and Change in Perspective Scale will be used at T1 (baseline, prior to intervention) and T2 (follow-up, 6 months after intervention)
The Empathy and Change in Perspective Scale will assess the empathy and change in perspective of teachers reported by teachers. Higher scores indicate higher empathy and change in perspective. A stronger increase of teachers' empathy and change in perspective in the intervention group compared to the control group is hypothesized.
The Empathy and Change in Perspective Scale will be used at T1 (baseline, prior to intervention) and T2 (follow-up, 6 months after intervention)
Improvement of teachers' self-efficacy
Lasso di tempo: The Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale will be used at T1 (baseline, prior to intervention) and T2 (follow-up, 6 months after intervention)
The Teachers Sense of Efficacy Scale will assess the teachers' self-efficacy reported by teachers. Higher scores indicate higher levels of self-efficacy. A stronger increase of self-efficacy in the intervention group compared to the control group is hypothesized.
The Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale will be used at T1 (baseline, prior to intervention) and T2 (follow-up, 6 months after intervention)
Decrease of favorable normative beliefs about violence
Lasso di tempo: Beliefs About Punishment by Teachers will be used at T1 (baseline, prior to intervention) and T2 (follow-up, 6 months after intervention)
Beliefs About Punishment by Teachers measured by purpose-build items based on CTS reported by students and teachers. A stronger reduction of favorable normative beliefs about violence in the intervention group compared to the control group is hypothesized.
Beliefs About Punishment by Teachers will be used at T1 (baseline, prior to intervention) and T2 (follow-up, 6 months after intervention)
Improvement of children's mental health
Lasso di tempo: The PSC-Y will be used at T1 (baseline, prior to intervention) and T2 (follow-up, 6 months after intervention)
The adapted Pediatric Symptom Checklist - Youth Report (PSC-Y) supported by pictures will assess children's emotional and behavioral problems reported by children. Higher scores indicate higher levels of children's mental health problems. A stronger decrease of mental health problems in the children of teachers of the intervention group compared to the control group is hypothesized.
The PSC-Y will be used at T1 (baseline, prior to intervention) and T2 (follow-up, 6 months after intervention)
Increase of children's quality of life
Lasso di tempo: The KIDSCREEN-10 will be used at T1 (baseline, prior to intervention) and T2 (follow-up, 6 months after intervention)
The KIDSCREEN-10 will assess children's quality of life reported by children. Higher scores indicate higher levels of children's quality of life. A stronger increase of quality of life in the children of teachers of the intervention group compared to the control group is hypothesized.
The KIDSCREEN-10 will be used at T1 (baseline, prior to intervention) and T2 (follow-up, 6 months after intervention)
Reduction of children's perceived stress
Lasso di tempo: The Perceived Stress Scale for Kids will be used at T1 (baseline, prior to intervention) and T2 (follow-up, 6 months after intervention)
The Perceived Stress Scale for Kids will assess the perceived stress of children reported by children. Higher scores indicate higher levels of stress. A stronger decrease of children's perceived stress in the children of teachers of the intervention group compared to the control group is hypothesized.
The Perceived Stress Scale for Kids will be used at T1 (baseline, prior to intervention) and T2 (follow-up, 6 months after intervention)
Reduction of children's experienced peer victimization
Lasso di tempo: The Multidimensional Peer Victimization Scale for Kids will be used at T1 (baseline, prior to intervention) and T2 (follow-up, 6 months after intervention)
The Multidimensional Peer Victimization Scale will assess the experienced peer victimization of children reported by children. Higher scores indicate higher levels of peer victimization. A stronger decrease of children's experienced peer victimization in children of teachers of the intervention group compared to the control group is hypothesized.
The Multidimensional Peer Victimization Scale for Kids will be used at T1 (baseline, prior to intervention) and T2 (follow-up, 6 months after intervention)
Improvement of students' relationships with teachers
Lasso di tempo: The Teacher-Child Relationship Subscale of People In My Life will be used at T1 (baseline, prior to intervention) and T2 (follow-up, 6 months after intervention)
The Teacher-Child Relationship Subscale of People In My Life will assess the relationship of students with teachers reported by students. Higher scores indicate better relationships. A stronger increase of students perceived relationship quality with teachers in students of teachers of the intervention group compared to the control group is hypothesized.
The Teacher-Child Relationship Subscale of People In My Life will be used at T1 (baseline, prior to intervention) and T2 (follow-up, 6 months after intervention)

Collaboratori e investigatori

Qui è dove troverai le persone e le organizzazioni coinvolte in questo studio.

Sponsor

Collaboratori

Pubblicazioni e link utili

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Pubblicazioni generali

Studiare le date dei record

Queste date tengono traccia dell'avanzamento della registrazione dello studio e dell'invio dei risultati di sintesi a ClinicalTrials.gov. I record degli studi e i risultati riportati vengono esaminati dalla National Library of Medicine (NLM) per assicurarsi che soddisfino specifici standard di controllo della qualità prima di essere pubblicati sul sito Web pubblico.

Studia le date principali

Inizio studio (Effettivo)

18 maggio 2026

Completamento primario (Stimato)

31 marzo 2027

Completamento dello studio (Stimato)

31 dicembre 2027

Date di iscrizione allo studio

Primo inviato

14 agosto 2026

Primo inviato che soddisfa i criteri di controllo qualità

14 agosto 2026

Primo Inserito (Effettivo)

19 agosto 2026

Aggiornamenti dei record di studio

Ultimo aggiornamento pubblicato (Effettivo)

19 agosto 2026

Ultimo aggiornamento inviato che soddisfa i criteri QC

14 agosto 2026

Ultimo verificato

1 agosto 2026

Maggiori informazioni

Termini relativi a questo studio

Altri numeri di identificazione dello studio

  • ICC-T Zambia
  • 84010706 (Altro numero di sovvenzione/finanziamento: Save the Children International)

Piano per i dati dei singoli partecipanti (IPD)

Hai intenzione di condividere i dati dei singoli partecipanti (IPD)?

SÌ

Descrizione del piano IPD

The ICC-T intervention is being tested in various other countries including Haiti, Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda. We will share anonymized data with project partners from the different countries for combined and/or comparative analyses. In addition, we will share anonymized data with other researchers working on prevention of violence against children in school settings for the purpose of conducting synthesizing analyses such as meta-analyses. Finally, the anonymized data collected in the study will be made publicly available in a data repository.

Periodo di condivisione IPD

The anonymized data will be made publicly available after completion of the project in 2030.

Tipo di informazioni di supporto alla condivisione IPD

  • STUDIO_PROTOCOLLO
  • LINFA
  • ICF
  • CODICE_ANALITICO

Informazioni su farmaci e dispositivi, documenti di studio

Studia un prodotto farmaceutico regolamentato dalla FDA degli Stati Uniti

No

Studia un dispositivo regolamentato dalla FDA degli Stati Uniti

No

Queste informazioni sono state recuperate direttamente dal sito web clinicaltrials.gov senza alcuna modifica. In caso di richieste di modifica, rimozione o aggiornamento dei dettagli dello studio, contattare register@clinicaltrials.gov. Non appena verrà implementata una modifica su clinicaltrials.gov, questa verrà aggiornata automaticamente anche sul nostro sito web .