Evaluation of Parenting Interventions to Prevent Violence Against Children in Colombia: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

The effects of the International Child Development Programme (ICDP) and the specific addition of a violence prevention module were observed in a preidentified population in Colombia where children are experiencing high levels of violence. Participants were 176 parents of 3- to 4-year-olds attending child centers who were randomly allocated to one of three conditions: organized Community Activities at child centers and ICDP (CA + ICDP), CA, ICDP, and a preventive Violence Curriculum (CA + ICDP + VC), or a comparison group with only CA. The parents completed questionnaires about corporal punishment, intimate partner violence, community violence, and mental health at baseline and at 6 months follow-up. Univariate logistic regressions were used to examine uses of child violence, predictors of intimate partner violence, and prevalence of mental health problems. McNemar tests were used to assess differences between intervention groups and comparison group at two different time points. Participants were mostly female (78.5%) and had an average age of 32 years. Among these, 58.5% had been exposed to community violence and 98.3% reported using physical assault to discipline their children. Reported prevalence of child violence decreased in all groups whereas the reduction of severe forms of violence was larger for the intervention groups, and especially for the CA + ICDP + VC group. There was a significant reduction of victimization of intimate partner violence in both intervention groups as well as a decrease in mental health problems, especially for the CA + ICDP group (from 22.4% to 5.1%). The general ICDP seems effective in reducing violence. The addition of a specific violence intervention component seemed to reduce intimate partner violence, but not violence related to children. The comparison group attending the child center and other social activities also reported reduced violence but to a lesser extent than the groups who attended specific interventions.

Contexto y resultados del desarrollo infantil temprano en niños y niñas de 12 a 59 meses en México

“…Sin embargo, nuestros resultados son similares a los reportados en 2015 para población en condiciones de vulnerabilidad similar 26 y apuntan hacia la necesidad de implementar intervenciones con los padres, las cuales han demostrado ser eficaces para disminuir la exposición a violencia en la niñez. 27 Una de las limitaciones de medir a escala poblacional el contexto de DIT es su incapacidad para medir sus dimensiones (proximal y distal). Sin embargo, el Módulo DIT cuenta con indicadores que funcionan como proxy de la calidad del contexto, como el uso de métodos de disciplina violenta y el acceso a oportunidades de aprendizaje.…”

The Apapacho Violence Prevention Parenting Program: Conceptual Foundations and Pathways to Scale

“…We found six recent reviews and meta-analyses of parenting programs for caregivers of young children to prevent violence and child behavior problems [ 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 ]. Furthermore, we found 17 recent randomized controlled trials of 11 parenting programs implemented in LMICs targeted toward young children, which were effective in reducing VAC, key drivers of VAC, and child behavior problems (see Table 2 ) [ 15 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 28 , 29 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 ].…”

“…The national plan includes, among others, the objective of “creating, strengthening, or designing services, programs, and strategies aimed at preventing physical punishment and cruel, humiliating, or degrading treatment of children in all settings […]” (author’s translation) [ 14 ] (p. 51). In fact, despite some small-scale pilots in small communities [ 15 ], there are no universal programs explicitly aimed at preventing violence against young children in the home or by household members, and there is little evidence of effective strategies to prevent VAC more broadly in Colombia.…”

Multicenter epidemiological study of maxillofacial trauma: a one-year retrospective-descriptive assessment of 1356 cases in a Colombian metropolitan region.

“…As it is possible that not all children victims of violence have reported abuse, this specific pattern of injury might be revealing a modality childhood maltreatment that occurs silently and frequently in Colombia as it has previously described. 36,37 Few studies have analyzed the occurrence of MF fractures according to the anatomical location. In this study the middle third of the face was most commonly fractured than other areas, which is in concurrence with data previously reported, 2,38 but in contrast to studies which have reported the mandible as the most commonly fractured site.…”