Improving Adolescent Student Mental Health and Quality of Life Through a Reduction in Physical and Emotional Violence by Teachers in Pakistan: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

What this Trial Is About

Violence by teachers against children and adolescents in Pakistan has serious negative effects on their well-being, mental health, and academic performance. This trial evaluates the effectiveness of a preventive program called Interaction Competencies with Children - for Teachers (ICC-T) to reduce physical and emotional violence by teachers in secondary schools. The study aims to improve children's mental health, quality of life, and school functioning while addressing attitudes that support violence and providing non-violent discipline strategies. The trial is a cluster randomized controlled study conducted across four sites in Pakistan, involving 48 public secondary schools. Schools are randomly assigned to either receive the ICC-T intervention or no intervention. The ICC-T program consists of five days of eight-hour training for teachers, focusing on teacher-student interaction, maltreatment prevention, effective discipline strategies, and supporting burdened students. The control group receives no intervention. Participants include approximately 1440 students and 720 teachers from first-year secondary classes. Data will be collected at baseline before the intervention, six months after, and 18 months after, measuring teacher-reported and student-reported physical and emotional violence. Additional assessments include children's mental health, quality of life, cognitive functioning, academic performance, and school attendance. The study also evaluates teachers' attitudes toward violence and the feasibility of implementing the program.

Preventing Physical and Emotional Violence by Teachers in Public Schools in Pakistan