A pre-post and one-year follow-up study of a hybrid-digital parenting programme for caregivers of adolescents on preventing maltreatment and sexual violence, and improving positive parenting practices, mental health distress, and problematic externalising behaviours in Tanzania. (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Violence against adolescents remains a critical global public health challenge, with over one billion children and young people affected annually. OBJECTIVE ParentApp is an app-based adaptation of an evidence-based parenting programme aimed at preventing adolescent violence and sexual violence by promoting positive parenting practices. This study evaluated the intervention’s pre-post and one-year observed change in Tanzania METHODS A pre-post study with one-year follow-up conducted with 206 adolescents and caregivers (103 dyads) in rural, urban, and peri-urban Tanzania. Data were collected at baseline, 3-month post-test, and 12-month follow-up. Outcomes included adolescent maltreatment, sexual violence, parenting practices, psychosocial well-being, family functioning, and economic hardship. Analyses employed generalized and linear mixed-effects models. RESULTS Sustained impacts at one-year showed significant decreases in emotional abuse (adolescent-report MR=0.33[0.26,0.41]P