Enhanced Child Friendly Space Interventions for Children

NCT03897894 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: AAAS1367
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 2,015
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

A 3-arm randomised controlled trial will be conducted to compare the effectiveness of a new enhanced Child Friendly Space service package with the basic Child Friendly Space service implementation, and to a waitlist control condition, within the West Nile refugee response in Uganda.

Conditions

Psychosocial Stressors; Child, Only; Mental Health Wellness 1; Child Development

Keywords

resilience; child protection; child development

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Child and Youth Resilience Measure (CYRM-28)

  A 28-item caregiver (for children aged 6-8 years) or child-reported (for children aged 9-14 years) measure that explores the resources that may bolster the resilience of children. Each item of the child self-report has response options rated on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (Not at all) to 5 (A Lot). Higher scores are indicative of increased presence of resilience processes. Each item of the caregiver-reported measure has three response options - 1 (No), 2(Sometimes), and 3 (Yes). Higher scores are indicative of increased presence of resilience processes of the child (better outcome).

  up to 1 hour from the start of a session

Secondary Outcomes (6)

• Child PTSD Symptom Scale (CPSS) Part 1

  up to 1 hour from the start of a session

• Child PTSD Symptom Scale (CPSS) Part 2

  up to 1 hour from the start of a session

• Children's Hope Scale (CHS)

  up to 1 hour from the start of a session

• Children's Revised Impact of Events Scale (CRIES-8)

  up to 1 hour from the start of a session

• Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (S-MFQ)

  up to 1 hour from the start of a session

Study Arms (3)

Enhanced Service Package

EXPERIMENTAL

The enhanced service package provides 40 sequential sessions selected by CFS program staff in advance and implemented over a twelve-week period. Activities are meant to build upon and reinforce one another and are organized into seven psychosocial themes: 1) Building community: "Our space together", 2) Emotional learning: "My feelings", 3) Wellbeing and coping: "Feeling good", 4) Social support: "My friends and family", 5) Relating to others: "Being a good friend", 6) Protection and boundaries: "My safety", and 7) Building on strengths: "All my supports". Each session takes approximately 1.5 - 2 hours to facilitate and will conclude with 1-1.5 hours unstructured free play time.

Behavioral: Child Friendly Space

Basic Service Package

EXPERIMENTAL

The basic service package offers a mixture of recreational and non-formal education activities over a twelve-week period. Each session lasts around 1.5 - 3 hours. Structured activities offered include basic literacy and numeracy lessons, life skills exercises, health and hygiene sessions, and traditional song and dance. Many activities are centered around various forms of play that enable expression and age-appropriate skill development. Unstructured free play and playground time is allocated throughout the daily session.

Behavioral: Child Friendly Space

Control

NO INTERVENTION

Waitlist control will receive delayed treatment of intervention after the primary assessment period.

Interventions

Child Friendly Space BEHAVIORAL

Child Friendly Spaces (CFS) are one of the most widely used interventions to provide Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) as well as provide a protective environment for children in humanitarian settings.

Basic Service Package; Enhanced Service Package

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 6 Years - 14 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)

You may qualify if:

• Primary caregiver has a child between the ages 6-8
• Child is between the ages of 9-14 years

You may not qualify if:

• No child resides in the home between the ages of 6 and 14 years

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Columbia University: lead
• Elrha: collaborator
• World Vision: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

World Vision West Nile Response Office

Arua, Uganda

Location

Related Publications (1)

• Metzler J, Saw T, Nono D, Kadondi A, Zhang Y, Leu CS, Gabriel A, Savage K, Landers C. Improving adolescent mental health and protection in humanitarian settings: longitudinal findings from a multi-arm randomized controlled trial of child-friendly spaces among South Sudanese refugees in Uganda. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2023 Jun;64(6):907-917. doi: 10.1111/jcpp.13746. Epub 2023 Jan 2.

  PMID: 36593181 DERIVED

Related Links

• Project description on Donor Website

Study Officials

• Cassie Landers, PhD

  Columbia University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: DOUBLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT, OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Assistant Professor of Population and Family Health

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: March 29, 2019
• First Posted: April 1, 2019
• Study Start: May 28, 2019
• Primary Completion: November 20, 2020
• Study Completion: November 20, 2020
• Last Updated: December 8, 2020

Record last verified: 2020-12

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

UG (1)