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Are school-level factors associated with primary school students' experience of physical violence from school staff in Uganda?

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:The nature and structure of the school environment has the potential to shape children's health and well being. Few studies have explored the importance of school-level factors in explaining a child's likelihood of experiencing violence from school staff, particularly in low-resource settings such as Uganda. METHODS:To quantify to what extent a student's risk of violence is determined by school-level factors we fitted multilevel logistic regression models to investigate associations and present between-school variance partition coefficients. School structural factors, academic and supportive environment are explored. RESULTS:53% of students reported physical violence from staff. Only 6% of variation in students' experience of violence was due to differences between schools and half the variation was explained by the school-level factors modelled. Schools with a higher proportion of girls are associated with increased odds of physical violence from staff. Students in schools with a high level of student perceptions of school connectedness have a 36% reduced odds of experiencing physical violence from staff, but no other school-level factor was significantly associated. CONCLUSION:Our findings suggest that physical violence by school staff is widespread across different types of schools in this setting, but interventions that improve students' school connectedness should be considered.

SUBMITTER: Knight L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4716800 | biostudies-other | 2016 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Are school-level factors associated with primary school students' experience of physical violence from school staff in Uganda?

Knight Louise L Nakuti Janet J Allen Elizabeth E Gannett Katherine R KR Naker Dipak D Devries Karen M KM

International health 20151208 1

<h4>Background</h4>The nature and structure of the school environment has the potential to shape children's health and well being. Few studies have explored the importance of school-level factors in explaining a child's likelihood of experiencing violence from school staff, particularly in low-resource settings such as Uganda.<h4>Methods</h4>To quantify to what extent a student's risk of violence is determined by school-level factors we fitted multilevel logistic regression models to investigate ...[more]

PMID: 26647396

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Project description:BackgroundViolence against children from school staff is widespread in various settings, but few interventions address this. We tested whether the Good School Toolkit-a complex behavioural intervention designed by Ugandan not-for-profit organisation Raising Voices-could reduce physical violence from school staff to Ugandan primary school children.MethodsWe randomly selected 42 primary schools (clusters) from 151 schools in Luwero District, Uganda, with more than 40 primary 5 students and no existing governance interventions. All schools agreed to be enrolled. All students in primary 5, 6, and 7 (approximate ages 11-14 years) and all staff members who spoke either English or Luganda and could provide informed consent were eligible for participation in cross-sectional baseline and endline surveys in June-July 2012 and 2014, respectively. We randomly assigned 21 schools to receive the Good School Toolkit and 21 to a waitlisted control group in September, 2012. The intervention was implemented from September, 2012, to April, 2014. Owing to the nature of the intervention, it was not possible to mask assignment. The primary outcome, assessed in 2014, was past week physical violence from school staff, measured by students' self-reports using the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect Child Abuse Screening Tool-Child Institutional. Analyses were by intention to treat, and are adjusted for clustering within schools and for baseline school-level means of continuous outcomes. The trial is registered at clinicaltrials.gov, NCT01678846.FindingsNo schools left the study. At 18-month follow-up, 3820 (92·4%) of 4138 randomly sampled students participated in a cross-sectional survey. Prevalence of past week physical violence was lower in the intervention schools (595/1921, 31·0%) than in the control schools (924/1899, 48·7%; odds ratio 0·40, 95% CI 0·26-0·64, p<0·0001). No adverse events related to the intervention were detected, but 434 children were referred to child protective services because of what they disclosed in the follow-up survey.InterpretationThe Good School Toolkit is an effective intervention to reduce violence against children from school staff in Ugandan primary schools.FundingMRC, DfID, Wellcome Trust, Hewlett Foundation.

Project description:BackgroundFew studies have explored risk factors for poor mental health in Ugandan primary schools. This study investigated whether individual- and contextual-level school-related factors including violence from school staff and other students, connectedness to school and peers, as well as school size and urban/rural location, were associated with mental health difficulties in Ugandan children. We also examined whether associations between violence exposure at school and mental health were mediated by connectedness as well as whether associations were different for boys and girls.MethodsThe analytic sample consisted of 3,565 students from 42 primary schools participating in the Good Schools Study. Data were collected through individual interviews conducted in June and July 2012. Mental health was measured using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Multilevel logistic regression was applied to investigate factors associated with mental health difficulties.ResultsExperiences of violence from school staff and other students in the past week were strongly associated with mental health difficulties (OR = 1.58, 95 % CI 1.31 to 1.90 and 1.81, 1.47 to 2.23, respectively). Children with a low school connectedness had 1.43 times (1.11 to 1.83) the odds of mental health difficulties compared to those with a high school connectedness. The OR comparing children never feeling close to other students at their school with those always feeling close was 1.86 (1.18 to 2.93). The effect of violence on mental health was not mediated through the connectedness variables. School size was not related to mental health difficulties, but attending an urban school increased the odds of mental health difficulties after accounting for other factors. We did not find evidence that the effect of one or more of the exposures on the outcome differed between boys and girls.ConclusionsThese findings suggest that violence in school and low connectedness to school and peers are independently associated with mental health difficulties and interventions should address both concurrently. Extra support may be needed for students in urban schools.Trial registrationClinicaltrials.gov NCT01678846 . Registered 24 August 2012.

Project description:Violence against children is a serious violation of children's rights with significant impacts on current and future health and well-being. The Good School Toolkit (GST) is designed to prevent violence against children in primary schools through changing schools' operational cultures. Conducted in the Luwero District in Uganda between 2012 and 2014, findings from previous research indicate that the Toolkit reduced the odds of past week physical violence from school staff (OR = 0.40, 95%CI 0.26-0.64, p < 0.001), corresponding to a 42% reduction in risk of past week physical violence. This nested qualitative study involved 133 interviews with students, teachers, school administration, and parents, and two focus group discussion with teachers. Interviews were conducted using semi-structured tools and analysed using thematic analysis complemented by constant comparison and deviant case analysis techniques. Within a context of normative acceptance of corporal punishment this qualitative paper reports suggestive pathways related to teacher-student relationships through which reductions in violence operated. First, improved student-teacher relationships resulted in improved student voice and less fear of teachers. Second, the intervention helped schools to clarify and encourage desired behaviour amongst students through rewards and praise. Third, many teachers valued positive discipline and alternative discipline methods, including peer-to-peer discipline, as important pathways to reduced use of violence. These shifts were reflected in changes in the views, use, and context of beating. Although the GST is effective for reducing physical violence from teachers to students, violence persisted, though at significantly reduced levels, in all schools with reductions varying across schools and individuals. Much of the success of the Toolkit derives from the support it provides for fostering better student-teacher relationships and alternative discipline options. Such innovation could usefully be incorporated in teacher training syllabi to equip teachers with knowledge and skills to maintain discipline without the use of fear or physical punishment.

Project description:BACKGROUND:The concept of physical literacy (PL) is gaining popularity within public health and physical education circles. However, little is known about the relationship between perceived and actual PL levels among school-aged children. The aim of this study is to explore the associations between perceived and actual levels of PL of primary school students in China. METHODS:A total of 327 children (153 boys and 174 girls) with a mean (SD) age of 10.0 (±1.0) years were included for analysis. PL perceptions were measured using the Perceived Physical Literacy Instrument. Children's actual level of PL was objectively assessed by the Chinese version of the Canadian Assessment of Physical Literacy, 2nd edition, which consists of four domains: Daily Behavior, Physical Competence, Motivation and Confidence, and Knowledge and Understanding. Pearson's correlation coefficients were calculated to examine the relationship between students' perceived and actual PL levels, whereas Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was calculated to investigate the gender, relative age differences, and interaction effect (2?×?4) on perceived and actual PL levels respectively. RESULTS:Significant correlations were observed between the perceptions and actual PL scores in both boys (r?=?.46, p?<?.01) and girls (r?=?.41, p?<?.01). Low to moderate significances were shown between each domain of perceived PL and actual PL (from .16 to .49). Further MANOVA results revealed that there were significant gender differences in the Daily Behavior domain of actual PL (F (1, 319)?=?30.15, p?<?.001, Wilks' ??=?540.88, ?2partial?=?.09). Overall, boys had both higher actual PL scores (58.9) and PL perceptions (37.3) than girls. Neither relative age effect nor interaction effect (2?×?4) was observed for the current participants in all the variables. CONCLUSIONS:This study is the first to examine the associations between the perceived and actual levels of PL in Chinese children. Additional studies should explore the importance of children's perceptions of PL when assessing the actual level of PL in physical education and health settings. Girls should be more encouraged by PE teachers to participate actively in physical activities in the school environment.

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Are school-level factors associated with primary school students' experience of physical violence from school staff in Uganda?

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Are school-level factors associated with primary school students' experience of physical violence from school staff in Uganda?

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