Parenting for lifelong health:A pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial of a non-commercialised parenting programme for adolescents and their families in South Africa

Objective To assess the impact of ‘Parenting for Lifelong Health: Sinovuyo Teen’, a parenting programme for adolescents in low- and middle-income countries, on abuse and parenting practices. Design Pragmatic cluster randomised control trial. Setting 40 villages/urban sites (clusters) in the Eastern Cape province, South Africa. Participants 552 families reporting conflict with their adolescents (aged 10-18). Intervention Intervention clusters (n=20) received a 14-session parent and adolescent programme delivered by trained community members. Control clusters (n=20) received a hygiene and hand-washing promotion programme. Main outcome measures Primary outcomes: abuse and parenting practices at one and 5-9 months post-intervention. Secondary outcomes: Caregiver and adolescent mental health and substance use, adolescent behavioural problems, social support, exposure to community violence, and family financial wellbeing at 5-9 months post-intervention. Blinding was not possible. Results At 5-9 months post-intervention, the intervention was associated with lower abuse (caregiver report incidence rate ratio (IRR) 0.55 (95% CI 0.40 to 0.75, p Conclusions This parenting programme shows promise for reducing violence, improving parenting and family functioning in low-resource settings.</p