Economic Problems, Emotion Regulation, Parent-Child Relations, Parenting
Conditions
Brief 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.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALFamily 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.
Sponsors
Christian Alliance for Orphans
Helping Children Worldwide
Child Reintegration Centre
Boston College
Study design
Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
NONE
Masking description
During baseline data collection, participants were not yet assigned to arms, so all parties were masked.
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
9 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
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).
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | — |
| 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 | — |
| Change in caregiver- and child-reported use of punishment by caregiver | Baseline: Up to 2 months before intervention; Endline: Up to 2 months after intervention | Measures developed for this study tailored for context; e.g., flogging child with hand or cane, public shaming, withholding food |
| Change in self-reported economic well-being | Baseline: Up to 2 months before intervention; Endline: Up to 2 months after intervention | 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 |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change in child- and caregiver-reported parenting behaviors by caregiver | Baseline: Up to 2 months before intervention; Endline: Up to 2 months after intervention | 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 |
Countries
Sierra Leone
Outcome results
None listed