Sustainability of effects and secondary long-term outcomes: One-year follow-up of a cluster-randomized controlled trial to prevent maltreatment in institutional care

Abstract

Background Many orphans in East Africa are living in institutional care facilities where they experience poor quality of care and ongoing maltreatment. We report on the extension of a cluster-randomized controlled trial aiming to replicate and show sustainability of previous found effects and to discover long-term effects of the intervention Interaction Competencies with Children–for Caregivers (ICC-C) 12-months after the intervention’s conclusion. Methods Conducting a robust 2x3 analysis of variance, we investigated the changes over time in the waitlist orphanages (n = 75, 62.7% female, Mage = 37.63 years, SDage = 11.81), which participated in the intervention after first follow-up and in the initial intervention orphanages (n = 81, 61.7% female, Mage = 38.73 years, SDage = 11.94). Results The caregivers in the waitlist orphanages reported less reported levels of maltreatment (d = −0.09), fewer positive attitudes towards violent discipline (d = −0.44) and increased childcare knowledge (d = 1.26) three months after intervention, replicating our findings of the initial intervention condition. In addition, these effects were maintained in the intervention orphanages 12 months post intervention. Furthermore, we found long-term improvements in negative caregiver-child relationship (d = –0.83), caregivers’ stress level (d = −0.98) and their mental health problems (d = −0.61). Conclusions The replication and maintenance of the intervention effects and first hints to additional long-term effects substantiates the effectiveness of ICC-C. As long as alternative care cannot be provided for all children in need, brief caregiver trainings can make an important contribution to enlarge the opportunities for many children. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03594617. Registered on 20 July 2018.