The impact of the parenting for respectability programme on violent parenting and intimate partner relationships in Uganda: A pre-post study

Background There is a growing need for interventions that reduce both violence against children and intimate partner violence in low- and middle-income countries. However, few parenting interventions deliberately address this link. We tested the feasibility of a 16-session group-based parenting programme, Parenting for Respectability , in semi-rural Ugandan communities. Methods This was a pre-post study with parents and their children ( N = 484 parents; 212 children). Results Pre-post comparisons found large effects for parent-reported reduced harsh parenting (Cohen’s f 2 = 0.41 overall; f 2 = 0.47 (among session attendees); with an overall reduction of 26% for harsh parenting. Session attendees reported higher reductions than non-attendees (p = 0.014), and male caregivers reported higher reductions than female caregivers (p<0.001). Children also reported reduced harsh parenting by attending fathers ( f 2 = 0.64 overall; f 2 = 0.60) and attending mothers ( f 2 = 0.56 overall; f 2 = 0.51); with reduction in harsh parenting ranging between 27% to 29% in the various categories. Overall, spousal violence reduced by 27% ( f 2 = 0.19 overall; f 2 = 0.26 (among session attendees). Both parents and children reported reduced dysfunctional parent relationships; parents: f 2 = 0.19 overall; f 2 = 0.26 (among session attendees); and children: f 2 = 0.35 overall; f 2 = 0.32 (for attending parents); with reductions ranging between 22% to 28%. Parents who attended more than 50% of the program reported greater effects on reduced dysfunctional relationships than those who attended less than half of the program ( B = -0.74, p = 0.013). All secondary outcomes were improved with f 2 ranging between 0.08 and 0.39; and improvements ranging between 6% and 28%. Conclusion Results suggest the importance of more rigorous testing to determine program effectiveness.