Sexual AssaultCOMPASSNCT02384642
Creating Opportunities Through Mentoring, Parenting and Safe Spaces - Democratic Republic of Congo
A study testing COMPASS and COMPASS plus parenting in people with Sexual Assault and Interpersonal Relations, run by Columbia University at 1 site in United States.
Trial summary
The study is a randomized controlled trial of COMPASS, an intervention for adolescent girls in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The study design will employ a two-arm randomized controlled trial where girls will be enrolled at the same time and randomized to receive a basic package of services, which includes… Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 10 to 14 years, women onlyHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Sexual Assault, Interpersonal Relations, Marital Status
- What is being tested?
- COMPASS and COMPASS plus parenting
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 1,633 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited States
- Study dates
- Jun 2015to Dec 2016
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- None posted in the registry
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 10 to 14 years
- Women only
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Child
Who may be able to join
- female
- aged 10-14
- give informed consent
Who cannot join
- cognitive impairment
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
United States1 site
International Rescue Commitee
New York, New York, 10168
About this study
Official title: Creating Opportunities Through Mentoring, Parenting and Safe Spaces - a Randomized Controlled Trial in Democratic Republic of Congo
The study is a randomized controlled trial of COMPASS, an intervention for adolescent girls in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The study design will employ a two-arm randomized controlled trial where girls will be enrolled at the same time and randomized to receive a basic package of services, which includes life skills education and access to mentors in safe spaces, or the basic package plus a structured parenting intervention for girls' caregivers. An experimental design will be used to evaluate the relative impact of the parenting initiative in addition to the safe space program for girls. In addition, qualitative research will address additional questions of acceptability, processes of change and best practice.
Groups in North and South Kivu will be randomized so that every group is randomly designated as a group that will either roll out the core intervention or the intervention plus caregiver component. Groups that do not receive the parental intervention during the study will receive the intervention when the study is complete to reduce communal jealousies.
The intervention, the COMPASS program, will involve a structured intervention for girls between the ages of 10-14 that is intended to engage adolescent girls, those who are influential in their lives, service providers and other stakeholders, with the ultimate goal of co-creating environments in which girls are valued and safe. The program is centered on establishing or supporting community-supported safe spaces for girls where they can come and gather among themselves and participate in a structured life-skills curriculum. In addition to the safe spaces for girls, the COMPASS project will also implement structured activities for the parents and caregivers of participants.
Read the detailed description
The study will examine the relative impact of the parenting initiative in addition to the program for adolescent girls. The study will seek to determine whether the structured intervention with girls' parents has an added impact on outcomes improve girls' safety and well-being. Research will focus on unpacking the components of the program in order to determine which components or combination of components have the most impact. This research will include a mix of qualitative and quantitative approaches to establish a foundation for good programming that supports adolescent girls' safe and healthy transition into adulthood.
The study assessment will employ a mixed methods approach with most data collection occurring at pre-test/baseline and post-intervention, although a qualitative assessment will also be performed at the intervention midpoint as a process indicator. Quantitative survey methods will be used to evaluate attitudes towards a host of topics related to physical and financial assets and health-related behaviors. Survey questions will be administered using Audio Computer Assisted Self-Interviewing (ACASI) and Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI). Quantitative methods will be used to yield statistical measures of the scale of changes in attitudes, skills, and behaviors due to the intervention.
Qualitative methods will include in-depth semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with girls, their family members and mentors, as well as participatory methods with girls to assess topics such as self-esteem, empowerment, and resilience.
- Being tested
- COMPASS, COMPASS plus parenting
- Keywords
- Adolescent Health, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sexual Violence
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
COMPASSBehavioural
COMPASS (Creating Opportunities through Mentoring, Parental involvement and Safe Spaces) is a program for 10-14 year old girls in Eastern DRC. The program is a structured intervention that is intended to engage adolescent girls, through life skills training and establishing or supporting community-supported safe spaces for girls where they can come and gather among themselves and participate in a structured life-skills curriculum.
COMPASS plus parentingBehavioural
The COMPASS plus parenting intervention is the core COMPASS intervention, plus activities for the parents and caregivers of participants.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| COMPASS | Active comparator | The COMPASS program will involve a structured intervention for girls between the ages of 10-14 that is intended to engage adolescent girls, those who are influential in their lives, service providers and other stakeholders, with the ultimate goal of co-creating environments in which girls are valued and safe. The program is centered on establishing or supporting community-supported safe spaces for girls where they can come and gather among themselves and participate in a structured life-skills curriculum. Receives: Behavioral: COMPASS |
| COMPASS plus parenting | Experimental | In the COMPASS plus parenting intervention arm, girls will receive the COMPASS intervention, and In addition to the safe spaces for girls, the COMPASS project will also implement structured activities for the parents and caregivers of participants. The study will examine the relative impact of the parenting initiative in addition to the program for adolescent girls. The study will seek to determine whether the structured intervention with girls' parents has an added impact on outcomes improve girls' safety and well-being. Receives: Behavioral: COMPASS plus parenting |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Sexual violence in the past 12 months
A binary composite representing any form of sexual violence in the previous 12 months, which included self-reported forced sex, unwanted sexual touching, or coerced sex
Measured: 12 months
Secondary outcomes (3)
Change in baseline prevalence of interpersonal relationships
This study will use a questionnaire to measure whether there is an increase in study participants' average number close friends from the pre-test to post-test evaluation. Girls will also self-report sources of emotional support such as comfort in discussing problems with a trusted female adult and comfort discussing topics such as education, marriage, puberty, pregnancy prevention, HIV/AIDS, and financial plans with caregivers
Measured: 12 months
Change in baseline prevalence of physical abuse
This study will use a questionnaire to measure whether the percentage of girls who self-reported experiencing beatings within the past 12 months decreases between the pre-test and post-test evaluation
Measured: 12 months
Change in baseline prevalence of early marriage
This study will use a questionnaire to measure changes in the percentage of girls who self-reported being married from the pre-test to post-test evaluation.
Measured: 12 months
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted10 Mar 2015 (estimated)
- Study startJun 2015
- Primary completionNov 2016
- Study completionDec 2016
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Publications (4)Papers the sponsor has linked to this study.
- Other trials for Sexual AssaultStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- More trials run by Columbia UniversityThe sponsor's other registered studies.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Prevention
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Enrolment
- 1,633 participants (actual)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Columbia University
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- International Rescue Committee, Department for International Development, United Kingdom
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Lindsay Stark, Columbia University
- Investigators
- Lindsay Stark, Principal investigator, Associate Professor of Population and Family Health
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT02384642
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- AAAO6612
- Acronym
- COMPASS
- Status last verified
- Feb 2018
- First submitted
- 24 Feb 2015
- Last updated
- 8 Feb 2018
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- Individual data sharing
- Undecided
Publications
Seff I, Falb K, Yu G, Landis D, Stark L. Gender-equitable caregiver attitudes and education and safety of adolescent girls in South Kivu, DRC: A secondary analysis from a randomized controlled trial. PLoS Med. 2021 Sep 28;18(9):e1003619. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1003619. eCollection 2021 Sep.
PubMed 34582454Stark L, Seff I, Asghar K, Roth D, Bakamore T, MacRae M, Fanton D'Andon C, Falb KL. Building caregivers' emotional, parental and social support skills to prevent violence against adolescent girls: findings from a cluster randomised controlled trial in Democratic Republic of Congo. BMJ Glob Health. 2018 Oct 19;3(5):e000824. doi: 10.1136/bmjgh-2018-000824. eCollection 2018.
PubMed 30398222Stark L, Seff I, Assezenew A, Eoomkham J, Falb K, Ssewamala FM. Effects of a Social Empowerment Intervention on Economic Vulnerability for Adolescent Refugee Girls in Ethiopia. J Adolesc Health. 2018 Jan;62(1S):S15-S20. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2017.06.014.
PubMed 29273113Falb KL, Tanner S, Ward L, Erksine D, Noble E, Assazenew A, Bakomere T, Graybill E, Lowry C, Mallinga P, Neiman A, Poulton C, Robinette K, Sommer M, Stark L. Creating opportunities through mentorship, parental involvement, and safe spaces (COMPASS) program: multi-country study protocol to protect girls from violence in humanitarian settings. BMC Public Health. 2016 Mar 5;16:231. doi: 10.1186/s12889-016-2894-3.
PubMed 26945586
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 8 Feb 2018. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Creating Opportunities Through Mentoring, Parenting and Safe Spaces - a Randomized Controlled Trial in Democratic Republic of Congo
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT02384642
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- COMPASS / AAAO6612
- Keywords
- Adolescent Health, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sexual Violence
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Enrolment
- 1,633 participants (actual)
- Lead sponsor
- Columbia UniversityUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- International Rescue Committee, Department for International Development, United Kingdom
- Study start
- Jun 2015
- Primary completion
- Nov 2016 (actual)
- Study completion
- Dec 2016 (actual)
- First posted
- 10 Mar 2015 (estimated)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
The study is a randomized controlled trial of COMPASS, an intervention for adolescent girls in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The study design will employ a two-arm randomized controlled trial where girls will be enrolled at the same time and randomized to receive a basic package of services, which includes life skills education and access to mentors in safe spaces, or the basic package plus a structured parenting intervention for girls' caregivers. An experimental design will be used to evaluate the relative impact of the parenting initiative in addition to the safe space program for girls. In addition, qualitative research will address additional questions of acceptability, processes of change and best practice.
Groups in North and South Kivu will be randomized so that every group is randomly designated as a group that will either roll out the core intervention or the intervention plus caregiver component. Groups that do not receive the parental intervention during the study will receive the intervention when the study is complete to reduce communal jealousies.
The intervention, the COMPASS program, will involve a structured intervention for girls between the ages of 10-14 that is intended to engage adolescent girls, those who are influential in their lives, service providers and other stakeholders, with the ultimate goal of co-creating environments in which girls are valued and safe. The program is centered on establishing or supporting community-supported safe spaces for girls where they can come and gather among themselves and participate in a structured life-skills curriculum. In addition to the safe spaces for girls, the COMPASS project will also implement structured activities for the parents and caregivers of participants.
Detailed description
The study will examine the relative impact of the parenting initiative in addition to the program for adolescent girls. The study will seek to determine whether the structured intervention with girls' parents has an added impact on outcomes improve girls' safety and well-being. Research will focus on unpacking the components of the program in order to determine which components or combination of components have the most impact. This research will include a mix of qualitative and quantitative approaches to establish a foundation for good programming that supports adolescent girls' safe and healthy transition into adulthood.
The study assessment will employ a mixed methods approach with most data collection occurring at pre-test/baseline and post-intervention, although a qualitative assessment will also be performed at the intervention midpoint as a process indicator. Quantitative survey methods will be used to evaluate attitudes towards a host of topics related to physical and financial assets and health-related behaviors. Survey questions will be administered using Audio Computer Assisted Self-Interviewing (ACASI) and Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI). Quantitative methods will be used to yield statistical measures of the scale of changes in attitudes, skills, and behaviors due to the intervention.
Qualitative methods will include in-depth semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with girls, their family members and mentors, as well as participatory methods with girls to assess topics such as self-esteem, empowerment, and resilience.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Prevention
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Number of arms
- 2
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| COMPASS | Active comparator | Behavioral: COMPASSThe COMPASS program will involve a structured intervention for girls between the ages of 10-14 that is intended to engage adolescent girls, those who are influential in their lives, service providers and other stakeholders, with the ultimate goal of co-creating environments in which girls are valued and safe. The program is centered on establishing or supporting community-supported safe spaces for girls where they can come and gather among themselves and participate in a structured life-skills curriculum. |
| COMPASS plus parenting | Experimental | Behavioral: COMPASS plus parentingIn the COMPASS plus parenting intervention arm, girls will receive the COMPASS intervention, and In addition to the safe spaces for girls, the COMPASS project will also implement structured activities for the parents and caregivers of participants. The study will examine the relative impact of the parenting initiative in addition to the program for adolescent girls. The study will seek to determine whether the structured intervention with girls' parents has an added impact on outcomes improve girls' safety and well-being. |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 10 to 14 years
- Sex
- Female only
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Child
Key inclusion criteria (3 listed)
- female
- aged 10-14
- give informed consent
Key exclusion criteria (1 listed)
- cognitive impairment
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| COMPASSCOMPASS (Creating Opportunities through Mentoring, Parental involvement and Safe Spaces) is a program for 10-14 year old girls in Eastern DRC. The program is a structured intervention that is intended to engage adolescent girls, through life skills training and establishing or supporting community-supported safe spaces for girls where they can come and gather among themselves and participate in a structured life-skills curriculum. | Behavioural | COMPASS |
| COMPASS plus parentingThe COMPASS plus parenting intervention is the core COMPASS intervention, plus activities for the parents and caregivers of participants. | Behavioural | COMPASS plus parenting |
Primary outcome
Sexual violence in the past 12 months
Time frame: 12 months
A binary composite representing any form of sexual violence in the previous 12 months, which included self-reported forced sex, unwanted sexual touching, or coerced sex
3 secondary outcomes
Change in baseline prevalence of interpersonal relationships
Time frame: 12 months
Change in baseline prevalence of physical abuse
Time frame: 12 months
Change in baseline prevalence of early marriage
Time frame: 12 months
Results and safety
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 8 Feb 2018.
- Derived from this study: PubMed 34582454Seff I, Falb K, Yu G, Landis D, Stark L. Gender-equitable caregiver attitudes and education and safety of adolescent girls in South Kivu, DRC: A secondary analysis from a randomized controlled trial. PLoS Med. 2021 Sep 28;18(9):e1003619. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1003619. eCollection 2021 Sep.
- Derived from this study: PubMed 30398222Stark L, Seff I, Asghar K, Roth D, Bakamore T, MacRae M, Fanton D'Andon C, Falb KL. Building caregivers' emotional, parental and social support skills to prevent violence against adolescent girls: findings from a cluster randomised controlled trial in Democratic Republic of Congo. BMJ Glob Health. 2018 Oct 19;3(5):e000824. doi: 10.1136/bmjgh-2018-000824. eCollection 2018.
- Derived from this study: PubMed 29273113Stark L, Seff I, Assezenew A, Eoomkham J, Falb K, Ssewamala FM. Effects of a Social Empowerment Intervention on Economic Vulnerability for Adolescent Refugee Girls in Ethiopia. J Adolesc Health. 2018 Jan;62(1S):S15-S20. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2017.06.014.
- Derived from this study: PubMed 26945586Falb KL, Tanner S, Ward L, Erksine D, Noble E, Assazenew A, Bakomere T, Graybill E, Lowry C, Mallinga P, Neiman A, Poulton C, Robinette K, Sommer M, Stark L. Creating opportunities through mentorship, parental involvement, and safe spaces (COMPASS) program: multi-country study protocol to protect girls from violence in humanitarian settings. BMC Public Health. 2016 Mar 5;16:231. doi: 10.1186/s12889-016-2894-3.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: Undecided
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
Lindsay Stark principal investigator
Associate Professor of Population and Family Health
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing COMPASS and COMPASS plus parenting in people with Sexual Assault and Interpersonal Relations, run by Columbia University at 1 site in United States.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 3 inclusion and 1 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 8 Feb 2018. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Sexual violence in the past 12 months (time frame: 12 months). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT02384642, which also lists 4 linked publications.
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 8 Feb 2018.