Marriage AgeNCT06947018
Impact Evaluation of Türkiye's Adolescent Girls' and Boys' Empowerment Programme for Elimination of Child Marriage
A study testing Adolescent Girls' and Boys' Empowerment Program in people with Marriage Age and Marriage, run by UNICEF at 1 site in Turkey (Türkiye).
Trial summary
Low income, refugee, displaced and disaster affected populations face a variety of protection risks, including higher risk of child, early and forced marriage and unions (CEFMU). Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 12 to 17 years, women only
- Conditions the study is for
- Marriage Age, Marriage
- What is being tested?
- Adolescent Girls' and Boys' Empowerment Program
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 820 participants
- Where
- 1 siteTurkey (Türkiye)
- Study dates
- 21 Apr 2025to 30 Oct 2025
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- Not yet: the study is under way
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 12 to 17 years
- Women only
- No healthy volunteers
- Child
Who may be able to join
None listed.
Who cannot join
- Adolescent girls younger than 12 or older than 17 years
- Girls who are married or cohabiting
- Previously been exposed to the intervention
- Are in institutionalized or non-family-based care
- Live in a family who are not social service clients of the implementing partner
- Live in a family who are risk-assessed as 'high' or 'highest' on the family risk assessment tool
- Live in a family which is planning on moving outside the catchment area of the intervention in the subsequent 6-months
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.
Turkey (Türkiye)1 site
UNICEF Türkiye
Ankara, Ankara
Irem Derya Caglayan, M.Sc., +905342974222, icaglayan@unicef.org
Pinar Öktem Arikan, Ph.D., +905359237280, poktem@unicef.org
About this study
Low income, refugee, displaced and disaster affected populations face a variety of protection risks, including higher risk of child, early and forced marriage and unions (CEFMU). This is the case in Türkiye, where low income, refugee populations and those affected by the 2023 earthquake in Southern and Central Türkiye face elevated risk of child marriage. As part of the UNICEF Türkiye Country Office (TCO) commitment to implement comprehensive interventions that aim to contribute to a change in social norms and attitudes towards gender equality, the CO and partners have developed the "Adolescent Girls' and Boys' Empowerment for Elimination of Child Marriage" program (hereafter "the program"). The program is an 8-week group-based empowerment and life skills training for adolescent girls aged 12 - 18 years old, a 4-session adolescent boys awareness training, and a one-time awareness raising seminar for caregivers. The current trial has the overall objective of evaluating the short-term causal impact of the program with respect to CEFMU and related outcomes for adolescent girls. The trial design is an individual randomized control trial, allocating 820 households with adolescent girls to either treatment or control on a 1:1 basis. The primary data collection includes a pre- and post-intervention caregiver and adolescent face-to-face survey, as well as a one-time qualitative data collection. The trial results will inform the future operation and scale-up of the program, as well as contribute to the broader evidence base on what works to increase the empowerment of adolescent girls and reduce CEFMU.
Read the detailed description
Low income, refugee, displaced and disaster affected populations face a variety of protection risks, including higher risk of child, early and forced marriage and unions (CEFMU). This is the case in Türkiye, where low income, refugee populations and those affected by the 2023 earthquake in Southern and Central Türkiye face elevated risk of child marriage. As part of the UNICEF Türkiye Country Office (TCO) commitment to implement comprehensive interventions that aim to contribute to a change in social norms and attitudes towards gender equality, the CO and partners have developed the "Adolescent Girls' and Boys' Empowerment for Elimination of Child Marriage" program (hereafter "the program"). The program is an 8-week group-based empowerment and life skills training for adolescent girls aged 12 - 18 years old, a 4-session adolescent boys awareness training and a one-time awareness raising seminar for caregivers. The current trial has the overall objective of evaluating the short-term causal impact of the program with respect to CEFMU and related outcomes for adolescent girls. The trial seeks to answer the following evaluation questions:
- 1) Does the program improve participant adolescent girls' agency, self-confidence, and gender-equitable attitudes (including for CEFMU), and to what extent?
- 2) Does the program improve the household enabling environment, including gender-equitable attitudes (including CEFMU), social support, protective behaviors against CEFMU, and use of social services among participating caregivers and in the broader community, and to what extent?
- 3) Does the program reduce CEFMU for adolescent girls, and to what extent?
- 4) Through which pathways (or combination of pathways) do potential impacts occur?
- 5) Was the program implemented in a manner to maximize potential impacts? and
- 6) What is the return-on-investment (cost-benefit calculation) for the program? The trial design is an individual randomized control trial, allocating 820 households with adolescent girls to either treatment or control on a 1:1 basis. The primary data collection includes a pre- and post-intervention caregiver and adolescent face-to-face survey, as well as a one-time qualitative data collection. The trial results will inform the future operation and scale-up of the program, as well as contribute to the broader evidence base on what works to increase the empowerment of adolescent girls and reduce CEFMU.
- Conditions
- Marriage Age, Marriage
- Being tested
- Adolescent Girls' and Boys' Empowerment Program
- Keywords
- Child marriage, Adolescent empowerment, Refugees, Life skills
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Adolescent Girls' and Boys' Empowerment ProgramBehavioural
The program was developed based on a social behavioural change (SBC) approach in order to change attitudes and behaviours of the participants, consisting of the following main activities on a 6 - 8 week cycle.
- Girls' Empowerment Training: Workshops comprise six sessions of approximately 80 minutes each, held separately with girls aged 12-15 and 16-18 years in groups of approximately 12-20 adolescents on a range of life skill themes.
- Boys' Awareness Raising Training: Similar to the girls' training, four workshops are organized for boys aged 12-15 and 16-18 years, in separate sessions, with similar length and group size.
- Awareness Raising Seminars to Caregivers: Caregivers (e.g., mothers, fathers) are invited to a one-time seminar focused on the negative outcomes of child marriage and role of caregivers in preventing child marriage, lasting approximately one hour and conducted separately for fathers and mothers to eventually influence social norms in the family and communities.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Adolescent Girls' and Boys' Empowerment Program | Experimental | Adolescent Girls' and Boys' Empowerment Program for Elimination of Child Marriage Receives: Behavioral: Adolescent Girls' and Boys' Empowerment Program |
| Control | No intervention | Business as usual (delayed intervention, post-trial - if funding allows) |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Proportion of girls married or cohabiting
Marriage or cohabitation status measured among adolescent girls
Measured: Baseline and 8-weeks post-intervention
Score on new general self-efficacy scale (short form, higher is better)
Eight-item scale asking about internal efficacy, with response options on a five-point scale, ranging from 1 = strongly disagree, to 5 = strongly agree (score ranges from 8 - 40). Widely used scale for individual ability to achieve goals across a range of different situations, despite difficulties. Interpreted as a sub-component of the construct of adolescent girls' agency.
Measured: Baseline and 8-weeks post-intervention
Score on decision-making scale (higher is better)
Ten-item scale asking about freedom to make choices across domains, with response options on a four-point scale, ranging from 1 = not at all, to 4 = a large extent (score ranges from 10 - 40). Adapted from the program version of the women's empowerment in agriculture index (pro-WEAI) to include adolescent-specific questions, previously piloted in Ethiopia among male and female youth. Interpreted as a sub-component of the construct of adolescent girls' agency.
Measured: Baseline and 8-weeks post-intervention
Score on voice scale (higher is better)
Eight-item scale asking about girls' ability to share feelings and speak up in different scenarios, with response options on a four-point scale, ranging from 1 = never, to 4 = all of the time (score ranges from 8 - 32). Voice scale is adapted from Global Early Adolescent Survey and interpreted as a sub-component of the construct of adolescent girls' agency.
Measured: Baseline and 8-weeks post-intervention
Score on child marriage attitudes scale (higher is better)
Thirteen-item scale developed and piloted in Türkiye by the author team to measure child marriage attitudes, with response options on a four-point scale, ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 4 = strongly agree. The scale is measured among adolescent girls and boys, as well as their caregivers (score ranges from 13 - 52).
Measured: Baseline and 8-weeks post-intervention
Secondary outcomes (5)
Scale of perceived social support (higher is better).
The family and friends' sub-scales of the multi-dimensional scale of perceived social support (MSPSS) consisting of nine questions answered on a four-point scale, ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 4 = strongly agree. The scale is measured among adolescent girls and ranges from 9 - 36.
Measured: Baseline and 8-weeks post-intervention
The Balanced Cohesion subscale of the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale (higher is better)
The Balanced Cohesion subscale of the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale is a seven-item scale answered on a five-point scale, ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree. The scale is measured among caregivers and ranges from 7 - 35.
Measured: Baseline and 8-weeks post-intervention
The Revised Family Communication Pattern Instrument Conversation Orientation Sub-scale (higher is better)
The Revised Family Communication Pattern Instrument Conversation Orientation Sub-scale measures parent-adolescent communication and is a 15-item scale answered on a five-point scale, ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree. The scale is administered to caregivers and ranges from 15 - 75.
Measured: Baseline and 8-weeks post-intervention
Score on willingness to intervene and speak out for girls' scale (higher is better)
Willingness to speak out and take action to support girls measured using simple self-reported questions on willingness to speak up against harmful behaviors: 1) child marriage, 2) violence against girls, 3) girls' rights and 4) for girls in times of need. These four domains are each assessed using one question answered on a four-point scale, ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 4 = strongly agree. The scale is measured among adolescent boys and caregivers and ranges from 4 - 32.
Measured: Baseline and 8-weeks post-intervention
Linkages to services scale (higher is better)
Received assistance or benefits from services measured among adolescent girls and caregivers, collected as a simple sum = 1 if received any services from: 1) health, 2) social, or 3) legal services (ranges from 0 - 3)
Measured: 8-weeks post-intervention
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted27 Apr 2025
- Study start21 Apr 2025 (estimated)
- Primary completion30 Oct 2025 (estimated)
- Study completion30 Oct 2025 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Marriage AgeStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- 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
- Model description
- The trial is an individually randomized intervention study where the intervention versus a control group is allocated on a 1:1 basis to households (adolescent girls, boys and their caregivers), stratified by study site (Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Adana, Gaziantep, and Hatay) and nationality (Syrian refugees versus Turkish nationals). The intervention group receives the Adolescent Girls' and Boys' Empowerment for Elimination of Child Marriage intervention, whereas the control group is a delayed treatment group who will be offered the intervention upon completion of the trial and follow-up data collection (if funding allows).
- Masking
- Double blind
- Who is masked
- Participant, Outcomes assessor
- Enrolment
- 820 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- UNICEF
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Yasemin Kisbu, UNICEF
- Investigators
- Zlata Bruckauf, Ph.D., Study director, UNICEF
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT06947018
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- HML2855
- Status last verified
- Apr 2025
- First submitted
- 7 Apr 2025
- Last updated
- 27 Apr 2025
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- Yes: Data from the trial will be owned by UNICEF and efforts will be made to share the deindentified data in a public repository, pending UNICEF approval. In addition, it is expected that de-identified replication files will be made publicly available upon the publication of any journal articles to allow the reproduction of all tables, figures and results, alongside statistical replication code.
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 27 Apr 2025. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Impact Evaluation of Türkiye's Adolescent Girls' and Boys' Empowerment Programme for Elimination of Child Marriage
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT06947018
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- HML2855
- Conditions
- Marriage Age, Marriage
- Keywords
- Child marriage, Adolescent empowerment, Refugees, Life skills
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Not yet recruiting
- Enrolment
- 820 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- UNICEFUniversity, hospital or other
- Study start
- 21 Apr 2025 (estimated)
- Primary completion
- 30 Oct 2025 (estimated)
- Study completion
- 30 Oct 2025 (estimated)
- First posted
- 27 Apr 2025 (actual)
- 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.
Low income, refugee, displaced and disaster affected populations face a variety of protection risks, including higher risk of child, early and forced marriage and unions (CEFMU). This is the case in Türkiye, where low income, refugee populations and those affected by the 2023 earthquake in Southern and Central Türkiye face elevated risk of child marriage. As part of the UNICEF Türkiye Country Office (TCO) commitment to implement comprehensive interventions that aim to contribute to a change in social norms and attitudes towards gender equality, the CO and partners have developed the "Adolescent Girls' and Boys' Empowerment for Elimination of Child Marriage" program (hereafter "the program"). The program is an 8-week group-based empowerment and life skills training for adolescent girls aged 12 - 18 years old, a 4-session adolescent boys awareness training, and a one-time awareness raising seminar for caregivers. The current trial has the overall objective of evaluating the short-term causal impact of the program with respect to CEFMU and related outcomes for adolescent girls. The trial design is an individual randomized control trial, allocating 820 households with adolescent girls to either treatment or control on a 1:1 basis. The primary data collection includes a pre- and post-intervention caregiver and adolescent face-to-face survey, as well as a one-time qualitative data collection. The trial results will inform the future operation and scale-up of the program, as well as contribute to the broader evidence base on what works to increase the empowerment of adolescent girls and reduce CEFMU.
Detailed description
Low income, refugee, displaced and disaster affected populations face a variety of protection risks, including higher risk of child, early and forced marriage and unions (CEFMU). This is the case in Türkiye, where low income, refugee populations and those affected by the 2023 earthquake in Southern and Central Türkiye face elevated risk of child marriage. As part of the UNICEF Türkiye Country Office (TCO) commitment to implement comprehensive interventions that aim to contribute to a change in social norms and attitudes towards gender equality, the CO and partners have developed the "Adolescent Girls' and Boys' Empowerment for Elimination of Child Marriage" program (hereafter "the program"). The program is an 8-week group-based empowerment and life skills training for adolescent girls aged 12 - 18 years old, a 4-session adolescent boys awareness training and a one-time awareness raising seminar for caregivers. The current trial has the overall objective of evaluating the short-term causal impact of the program with respect to CEFMU and related outcomes for adolescent girls. The trial seeks to answer the following evaluation questions:
- 1) Does the program improve participant adolescent girls' agency, self-confidence, and gender-equitable attitudes (including for CEFMU), and to what extent?
- 2) Does the program improve the household enabling environment, including gender-equitable attitudes (including CEFMU), social support, protective behaviors against CEFMU, and use of social services among participating caregivers and in the broader community, and to what extent?
- 3) Does the program reduce CEFMU for adolescent girls, and to what extent?
- 4) Through which pathways (or combination of pathways) do potential impacts occur?
- 5) Was the program implemented in a manner to maximize potential impacts? and
- 6) What is the return-on-investment (cost-benefit calculation) for the program? The trial design is an individual randomized control trial, allocating 820 households with adolescent girls to either treatment or control on a 1:1 basis. The primary data collection includes a pre- and post-intervention caregiver and adolescent face-to-face survey, as well as a one-time qualitative data collection. The trial results will inform the future operation and scale-up of the program, as well as contribute to the broader evidence base on what works to increase the empowerment of adolescent girls and reduce CEFMU.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Prevention
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Double blind (participant, outcomes assessor)
- Number of arms
- 2
- Model description
- The trial is an individually randomized intervention study where the intervention versus a control group is allocated on a 1:1 basis to households (adolescent girls, boys and their caregivers), stratified by study site (Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Adana, Gaziantep, and Hatay) and nationality (Syrian refugees versus Turkish nationals). The intervention group receives the Adolescent Girls' and Boys' Empowerment for Elimination of Child Marriage intervention, whereas the control group is a delayed treatment group who will be offered the intervention upon completion of the trial and follow-up data collection (if funding allows).
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Adolescent Girls' and Boys' Empowerment Program | Experimental | Behavioral: Adolescent Girls' and Boys' Empowerment ProgramAdolescent Girls' and Boys' Empowerment Program for Elimination of Child Marriage |
| Control | No intervention | –Business as usual (delayed intervention, post-trial - if funding allows) |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 12 to 17 years
- Sex
- Female only
- Healthy volunteers
- Not accepted
- Age groups
- Child
Key inclusion criteria (0 listed)
Key exclusion criteria (7 listed)
- Adolescent girls younger than 12 or older than 17 years
- Girls who are married or cohabiting
- Previously been exposed to the intervention
- Are in institutionalized or non-family-based care
- Live in a family who are not social service clients of the implementing partner
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Adolescent Girls' and Boys' Empowerment ProgramThe program was developed based on a social behavioural change (SBC) approach in order to change attitudes and behaviours of the participants, consisting of the following main activities on a 6 - 8 week cycle. * Girls' Empowerment Training: Workshops comprise six sessions of approximately 80 minutes each, held separately with girls aged 12-15 and 16-18 years in groups of approximately 12-20 adolescents on a range of life skill themes. * Boys' Awareness Raising Training: Similar to the girls' training, four workshops are organized for boys aged 12-15 and 16-18 years, in separate sessions, with similar length and group size. * Awareness Raising Seminars to Caregivers: Caregivers (e.g., mothers, fathers) are invited to a one-time seminar focused on the negative outcomes of child marriage and role of caregivers in preventing child marriage, lasting approximately one hour and conducted separately for fathers and mothers to eventually influence social norms in the family and communities. | Behavioural | Adolescent Girls' and Boys' Empowerment Program |
Primary outcome
Proportion of girls married or cohabiting
Time frame: Baseline and 8-weeks post-intervention
Marriage or cohabitation status measured among adolescent girls
Score on new general self-efficacy scale (short form, higher is better)
Time frame: Baseline and 8-weeks post-intervention
Eight-item scale asking about internal efficacy, with response options on a five-point scale, ranging from 1 = strongly disagree, to 5 = strongly agree (score ranges from 8 - 40). Widely used scale for individual ability to achieve goals across a range of different situations, despite difficulties. Interpreted as a sub-component of the construct of adolescent girls' agency.
Score on decision-making scale (higher is better)
Time frame: Baseline and 8-weeks post-intervention
Ten-item scale asking about freedom to make choices across domains, with response options on a four-point scale, ranging from 1 = not at all, to 4 = a large extent (score ranges from 10 - 40). Adapted from the program version of the women's empowerment in agriculture index (pro-WEAI) to include adolescent-specific questions, previously piloted in Ethiopia among male and female youth. Interpreted as a sub-component of the construct of adolescent girls' agency.
Score on voice scale (higher is better)
Time frame: Baseline and 8-weeks post-intervention
Eight-item scale asking about girls' ability to share feelings and speak up in different scenarios, with response options on a four-point scale, ranging from 1 = never, to 4 = all of the time (score ranges from 8 - 32). Voice scale is adapted from Global Early Adolescent Survey and interpreted as a sub-component of the construct of adolescent girls' agency.
Score on child marriage attitudes scale (higher is better)
Time frame: Baseline and 8-weeks post-intervention
Thirteen-item scale developed and piloted in Türkiye by the author team to measure child marriage attitudes, with response options on a four-point scale, ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 4 = strongly agree. The scale is measured among adolescent girls and boys, as well as their caregivers (score ranges from 13 - 52).
5 secondary outcomes
Scale of perceived social support (higher is better).
Time frame: Baseline and 8-weeks post-intervention
The Balanced Cohesion subscale of the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale (higher is better)
Time frame: Baseline and 8-weeks post-intervention
The Revised Family Communication Pattern Instrument Conversation Orientation Sub-scale (higher is better)
Time frame: Baseline and 8-weeks post-intervention
Score on willingness to intervene and speak out for girls' scale (higher is better)
Time frame: Baseline and 8-weeks post-intervention
Linkages to services scale (higher is better)
Time frame: 8-weeks post-intervention
Results and safety
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 27 Apr 2025.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: Yes. Data from the trial will be owned by UNICEF and efforts will be made to share the deindentified data in a public repository, pending UNICEF approval. In addition, it is expected that de-identified replication files will be made publicly available upon the publication of any journal articles to allow the reproduction of all tables, figures and results, alongside statistical replication code.
Related trials for Marriage Age
Active, not recruiting
Youth Outlook on Life Opportunities Study
Childbearing, Delayed, Marriage Age
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.
Zlata Bruckauf, Ph.D. study director
UNICEF
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Adolescent Girls' and Boys' Empowerment Program in people with Marriage Age and Marriage, run by UNICEF at 1 site in Turkey (Türkiye).
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 0 inclusion and 7 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: opening soon, as of the sponsor's last update on 27 Apr 2025. 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 Turkey (Türkiye). 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?
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
Contact Yasemin Kisbu, Ph.D. (+90 532 215 37 90, ykisbu@unicef.org), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Proportion of girls married or cohabiting (time frame: Baseline and 8-weeks post-intervention). The study lists 5 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
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 27 Apr 2025.