A feasibility trial of an early childhood, violence prevention, parenting program integrated into early childhood educational provision in Jamaica: A study protocol

Violence against children (VAC) is a global public health issue that can lead to long-lasting negative consequences for child outcomes. The Irie Homes Toolbox (IHT) is an early childhood, violence-prevention, parenting program designed for integration into early childhood educational services in Jamaica. We have previously shown that the program is effective in reducing child maltreatment when implemented by the research team. For wide-scale dissemination, the IHT needs to be delivered by preschool staff as part of their routine duties. We adapted the IHT using results from our previous evaluations and we are conducting a mixed-method feasibility trial of the IHT fully integrated into preschool provision. Twenty-four basic schools in Kingston and St Andrew, Jamaica have been randomly assigned to intervention (n=12) or wait-list control (n=12) with ten caregivers per school participating in the study (240 caregivers, 120/group). The intervention is delivered through twelve, weekly, one-hour sessions by a preschool teacher with groups of ten caregivers of children aged 2-6 years. An ongoing process evaluation includes quantitative measures of caregiver attendance, teacher compliance, and fidelity of intervention implementation and qualitative measures of enablers and barriers to implementation and suggestions for improvement. In the impact evaluation, the primary outcome is frequency of caregivers’ use of violence against their child. Secondary outcomes are caregiver attitudes to violence, preferences for harsh punishment, involvement with their child and child conduct problems. All outcomes are measured through caregiver-report. The results of the study will be used to inform revisions of the IHT for implementation at scale.