Creating Opportunities Through Mentoring, Parental Involvement and Safe Spaces - Ethiopia (COMPASS)

Columbia University

Status: Completed

Conditions: Sexual Assault; Domestic Violence; Marital Status; Interpersonal Relations

Treatments: Behavioral: COMPASS; Behavioral: No intervention

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02506543

AAAP6855

Details and patient eligibility

About

The study is a randomized controlled trial of COMPASS, an intervention for adolescent girls in three refugee camps in Ethiopia. The study design will employ a two group wait-list cluster randomized controlled trial where girls will be invited to participate in the COMPASS program, assigned to groups of approximately 20 for the purposes of the program, complete a pre-test baseline assessment, and will then be randomized by group to the intervention or control condition. In addition, qualitative research will address additional questions of acceptability, processes of change and best practice.

Groups in three refugee camps - Sherkole, Bambasi, and Tongo - will be randomized to determine whether the participants receive the intervention or are placed on the wait-list immediately following the baseline. Those that do not get the curriculum during the study will receive it following the endline phase of the study so as to not create tensions or jealousies.

The intervention, the COMPASS program, will involve a structured intervention for girls between the ages of 13-19 that is intended to engage adolescent girls, those who are influential in their lives, service providers and other stakeholders, with the ultimate goal of co-creating environments in which girls are valued and safe. The program is centered on establishing or supporting community-supported safe spaces for girls where they can come and gather among themselves and participate in a structured life-skills curriculum.

Full description

The study assessment will employ a mixed methods approach with most data collection occurring at pre-test/baseline and post-intervention. Quantitative survey methods will be used to evaluate attitudes towards a host of topics related to physical and financial assets and health-related behaviors. Survey questions will be administered using Audio Computer Assisted Self-Interviewing (ACASI). Quantitative methods will be used to yield statistical measures of the scale of changes in attitudes, skills, and behaviors due to the intervention.

Qualitative methods at baseline will include focus group discussions with caregivers and participatory methods with girls to assess topics such as self-esteem, empowerment, safety, and resilience. Endline qualitative methods include in-depth interviews with caregivers, and small-group warm-up activities with adolescent girls, followed by in-depth interviews.

Enrollment: 1,014 patients

Sex: Female

Ages: 13 to 19 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• female
• aged 13-19
• speak one of the languages included in the study (Sudanese Arabic, Funj/Berta, Maban, Regarig and Engesena Quickly dialects)
• give informed consent

Exclusion criteria

• cognitive impairment

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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1,014 participants in 2 patient groups

COMPASS intervention

Experimental group

Description:

Subjects in this group will be pre-tested at the same time with the subjects in the Wait-list control group. Subjects in this group will receive the intervention immediately after the initial pre-test/baseline assessment, which includes life skills education, access to mentors in safe spaces, and a structured parenting intervention for girls' caregivers. Then, the subjects in this group have completed the intervention (at 12-months post-intervention initiation), the subjects in this group will take the post-test at the same time with the subjects in the Wait-list control group.

Treatment:

Behavioral: COMPASS

Wait-list control

Active Comparator group

Description:

No intervention

Treatment:

Behavioral: No intervention