Violence by TeachersICC-T ZambiaNCT07773961
School-based Prevention of Teacher Violence Against Children in Zambia
A study testing Interaction Competencies with Children in people with Violence by Teachers, run by Tobias Hecker, PhD at 1 site in Zambia.
Trial summary
The United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child UN General Assembly, 1989), outlawed violence against children worldwide. Yet, 75% of all children worldwide - experience violence while growing up (Know Violence in Childhood, 2017). Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 8 to 80 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Violence by Teachers
- What is being tested?
- Interaction Competencies with Children
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 700 participants
- Where
- 1 siteZambia
- Study dates
- 18 May 2026to 31 Dec 2027
- Phase
- Interventional
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 8 to 80 years
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Child, Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- Schools:
- public primary school (state owned schools, guided by Zambian education policy)
- at least 35 students in the selected grade (3th school grade). o if it has less than 35 students in a grade, then it will be combined with nearby selected public primary school which must be within 15 km from the respective and an equal number from each school cluster will be selected to participate in the study.
- at least 8 but no more than 50 employed teachers. o in case of less than 25 teachers, the selected school will form a school cluster together with another near-by (i.e., within 15 km) public primary school.
- All participants:
- Written informed consent (if underaged by parents (written) \& minors themselves (orally)
Show all 17Show fewer
- Students:
- being enrolled in third school grade of public primary school.
- being of age between 8 and 13 years.
- Teachers:
- being employed at an eligible school.
- being open to participate in the intervention during school holidays.
- Facilitators:
- Ideally people holding a BA degree in psychology, social work, social sciences
- Interest in the work with children
- Being open minded and motivated
- Balance of gender in the team of enumerators
Who cannot join
- Schools:
- Schools participating in the sponsorship program of Save the Children will be excluded.
- Students:
- severe mental disabilities that make it impossible to follow the interview questions.
- Teachers:
- acute intoxication of alcohol, drugs or any other substance which make it impossible to follow the interview questions.
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.
Lucas Wissmann contact
Zambia1 site, 1 recruiting
- Recruiting
Field Office Petauke - Save the Children Zambia
Petauke, Eastern Province
Titus Mudenda, +260 979333621, Titus.Mudenda@savethechildren.org
Lucas Wißmann, +49 521 106-3105, lucas.wissmann@uni-bielefeld.de
About this study
Official title: School-based Prevention of Teacher Violence Against Children: A Cluster-randomized Controlled Trial in Zambia
The United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child UN General Assembly, 1989), outlawed violence against children worldwide. Yet, 75% of all children worldwide - experience violence while growing up (Know Violence in Childhood, 2017). In Low- and Middle-Income countries prevalence rates at home and at school are higher (Hoeffler, 2017), with particularly high rates in Africa (Hecker et al., 2018; Nkuba, Hermenau, \& Hecker, 2018; Hillis et al., 2016). Violence against children is related to negative mental health outcomes, lower quality in the child-adult relationship, lower cognitive functioning, and emotional and behavioural problems that begin in childhood and may persist through adolescence until adulthood (Berlin et al., 2009; Gershoff \& Grogan-Kaylor, 2016; Hecker et al., 2016; Kim \& Cicchetti, 2010; Majer et al., 2010; Mills et al., 2011; Newbury et al., 2018; Wilson et al., 2009).
The present study focuses on violent discipline in schools, as (1) many children are subjected to violent discipline at school on a regular basis, and (2) teachers justify violent discipline since they want to encourage better academic performance and maintain children's discipline (Masath et al., 2022). As in other African countries (Hecker et al., 2018; Nkuba, Hermenau, \& Hecker, 2018; Hillis et al., 2016), violent discipline is prevalent in Zambian schools, despite its prohibition in 2022 (End Corporal Punishment, 2025).
With this study the investigators test the intervention Interaction Competencies with Children - for Teachers (ICC-T; Kirika \& Hecker, 2022) to alleviate violence against children. ICC-T is a manualised 5,5 days training workshop focusing on the basic competencies in the work with children, including non-violent action alternatives. Previous cluster randomized controlled trail studies on ICC-T in Tanzania and Uganda showed that teachers who participated in ICC-T, used significantly less violent discipline measures against children compared to teachers in the control group. The transferability of the intervention to and the effectiveness in the Zambian context remains unclear. Evidence from our research may guide policy makers to implement further measures aiming at ending violence against children.
Read the detailed description
The investigators will use a two-armed school-based CRCT including up to 30 primary schools in the Eastern Province of Zambia (Petauke and Lusangazi). The schools will be combined into 12 school clusters, 6 of the 12 school clusters will be randomly allocated to the intervention group, which will receive the ICC-T workshop, and the remaining schools will be allocated to the control group without any intervention. The study will include two data collection phases: (1) a baseline assessment before the intervention allocation, and (2) a follow-up assessment approximately six months after the allocation and delivery of the intervention.
The study will begin with the baseline assessment involving teachers and students in all schools (May-July 2026). Then the intervention period, follows during school holidays (August 2026). The intervention will involve the Interaction Competencies with Children - for Teachers (ICC-T). Teachers from the selected schools will be trained in ICC-T on 5,5 days consecutively. A local team of ICC-T trainers, trained extensively by our research team, will implement the interventions. Also, all training will take place within school premises. A follow-up assessment with teachers and students will be conducted at all schools approximately six months after the intervention.
Approximately 30-35 randomly selected students from the third year of formal schooling per school cluster will be invited to participate. In addition, 20 to 25 teachers per school cluster will be invited to participate in the present study. This results in a baseline sample size of approximately 400 students and approximately 300 teachers across the 12 school clusters.
Primary outcome measures are student-, and teacher-reported physical and emotional violence by the teachers in the past week. Secondary outcome measures include adult-child relationship quality, attitudes and norms towards violence, children's emotional and behavioral problems, quality of life, peer victimization, teachers' and children's stress level, teachers empathy change in perspective and self-efficacy.
- Conditions
- Violence by Teachers
- Being tested
- Interaction Competencies with Children
- Keywords
- violence, violence prevention, corporal punishment, emotional violence, physical violence
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Interaction Competencies with ChildrenBehavioural
Interaction Competencies with Children - for Teachers (ICC-T) Core training components include teacher-student interaction, maltreatment prevention, effective discipline strategies, identifying and supporting burdened students and implementation of the training materials into the school setting.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Interaction Competencies with Children | Experimental | ICC-T: 5,5 days of training for teachers. Core training components include teacher-student interaction, maltreatment prevention, effective discipline strategies, identifying and supporting burdened students and implementation of the training materials into the school setting. Receives: Behavioral: Interaction Competencies with Children |
| Control | No intervention | no intervention |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Reduction of teachers' use of emotional and physical violence
The Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS) will be used to assess teachers' use of emotional and physical violent discipline measures against children in the past week. Higher scores indicate higher levels of violence that is used by teachers. A stronger reduction of violence used by teachers of the intervention group compared to the control group is hypothesized.
Measured: The CTS will be used at T1 (baseline, prior to intervention) and T2 (follow-up, 6 months after intervention)
Reduction of children's exposure to emotional and physical violence by teachers
The Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS) supported by pictures will be used to assess children's self-reported experiences of emotional and physical violence by teachers at school in the past week. Higher scores indicate higher levels of violence that is used by teachers. A stronger reduction of exposure to violence in the children of teachers of the intervention group compared to the control group is hypothesized.
Measured: The CTS will be used at T1 (baseline, prior to intervention) and T2 (follow-up, 6 months after intervention)
Secondary outcomes (12)
Change of teachers' attitudes towards emotional and physical violence
Teachers' attitudes towards emotional and physical violence will be assessed with an adapted version of the Conflict Tactic Scale (CTS). Higher scores indicate higher levels of positive attitudes towards violence. A stronger reduction of favorable attitudes towards violence of teachers of the intervention group compared to the control group is hypothesized.
Measured: The adapted version of CTS will be used at T1 (baseline, prior to intervention) and T2 (follow-up, 6 months after intervention)
Reduction of teachers' perceived stress
The Teachers Stress Inventory will assess the perceived stress of teachers reported by teachers. Higher scores indicate higher levels of stress. A stronger decrease of teachers' perceived stress in the intervention group compared to the control group is hypothesized.
Measured: The Teacher Stress Inventory will be used at T1 (baseline, prior to intervention) and T2 (follow-up, 6 months after intervention)
Improvement of teachers' relationships with colleagues
Teachers' Relationship with Colleagues with a Subscale of the Teacher Responsibility Scale will assess the relationship of teachers with colleagues reported by teachers. Higher scores indicate better relationships. A stronger increase of teachers' perceived relationship quality with colleagues in the intervention group compared to the control group is hypothesized.
Measured: The Teachers' Relationship with Colleagues Scale will be used at T1 (baseline, prior to intervention) and T2 (follow-up, 6 months after intervention)
Improvement of teachers' relationships with students
The Student-Teacher Relationship Scale will assess the relationship of teachers with students reported by teachers. Higher scores indicate better relationships. A stronger increase of teachers' perceived relationship quality with students in the intervention group compared to the control group is hypothesized.
Measured: The Student-Teacher Relationship Scale will be used at T1 (baseline, prior to intervention) and T2 (follow-up, 6 months after intervention)
Increase of empathy and change in perspective by teachers
The Empathy and Change in Perspective Scale will assess the empathy and change in perspective of teachers reported by teachers. Higher scores indicate higher empathy and change in perspective. A stronger increase of teachers' empathy and change in perspective in the intervention group compared to the control group is hypothesized.
Measured: The Empathy and Change in Perspective Scale will be used at T1 (baseline, prior to intervention) and T2 (follow-up, 6 months after intervention)
Improvement of teachers' self-efficacy
The Teachers Sense of Efficacy Scale will assess the teachers' self-efficacy reported by teachers. Higher scores indicate higher levels of self-efficacy. A stronger increase of self-efficacy in the intervention group compared to the control group is hypothesized.
Measured: The Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale will be used at T1 (baseline, prior to intervention) and T2 (follow-up, 6 months after intervention)
Decrease of favorable normative beliefs about violence
Beliefs About Punishment by Teachers measured by purpose-build items based on CTS reported by students and teachers. A stronger reduction of favorable normative beliefs about violence in the intervention group compared to the control group is hypothesized.
Measured: Beliefs About Punishment by Teachers will be used at T1 (baseline, prior to intervention) and T2 (follow-up, 6 months after intervention)
Improvement of children's mental health
The adapted Pediatric Symptom Checklist - Youth Report (PSC-Y) supported by pictures will assess children's emotional and behavioral problems reported by children. Higher scores indicate higher levels of children's mental health problems. A stronger decrease of mental health problems in the children of teachers of the intervention group compared to the control group is hypothesized.
Measured: The PSC-Y will be used at T1 (baseline, prior to intervention) and T2 (follow-up, 6 months after intervention)
Increase of children's quality of life
The KIDSCREEN-10 will assess children's quality of life reported by children. Higher scores indicate higher levels of children's quality of life. A stronger increase of quality of life in the children of teachers of the intervention group compared to the control group is hypothesized.
Measured: The KIDSCREEN-10 will be used at T1 (baseline, prior to intervention) and T2 (follow-up, 6 months after intervention)
Reduction of children's perceived stress
The Perceived Stress Scale for Kids will assess the perceived stress of children reported by children. Higher scores indicate higher levels of stress. A stronger decrease of children's perceived stress in the children of teachers of the intervention group compared to the control group is hypothesized.
Measured: The Perceived Stress Scale for Kids will be used at T1 (baseline, prior to intervention) and T2 (follow-up, 6 months after intervention)
Reduction of children's experienced peer victimization
The Multidimensional Peer Victimization Scale will assess the experienced peer victimization of children reported by children. Higher scores indicate higher levels of peer victimization. A stronger decrease of children's experienced peer victimization in children of teachers of the intervention group compared to the control group is hypothesized.
Measured: The Multidimensional Peer Victimization Scale for Kids will be used at T1 (baseline, prior to intervention) and T2 (follow-up, 6 months after intervention)
Improvement of students' relationships with teachers
The Teacher-Child Relationship Subscale of People In My Life will assess the relationship of students with teachers reported by students. Higher scores indicate better relationships. A stronger increase of students perceived relationship quality with teachers in students of teachers of the intervention group compared to the control group is hypothesized.
Measured: The Teacher-Child Relationship Subscale of People In My Life will be used at T1 (baseline, prior to intervention) and T2 (follow-up, 6 months after intervention)
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted19 Aug 2026
- Study start18 May 2026
- Primary completion31 Mar 2027 (estimated)
- Study completion31 Dec 2027 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Publications (14)Papers the sponsor has linked to this study.
- Other trials for Violence by TeachersStudies 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
- Masking
- Single blind
- Who is masked
- Outcomes assessor
- Enrolment
- 700 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Tobias Hecker, PhD
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- Mkwawa University College of Education, Save the Children Zambia, Save the Children, Save the Children International, University of Zambia, SEPA - Safeguarding & Ethical Programming & Advocacy (Save the Children), CUBIC - Center for Utilizing Behavioral Insights for Children (Save the Children)
- Responsible party
- Sponsor-investigator, Tobias Hecker, PhD, Bielefeld University
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07773961
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- ICC-T Zambia
- Other IDs
- 84010706
- Acronym
- ICC-T Zambia
- Status last verified
- Aug 2026
- First submitted
- 14 Aug 2026
- Last updated
- 21 Oct 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- Yes
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- Yes: The ICC-T intervention is being tested in various other countries including Haiti, Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda. The investigators will share anonymized data with project partners from the different countries for combined and/or comparative analyses. In addition, the investigators will share anonymized data with other researchers working on prevention of violence against children in school settings for the purpose of conducting synthesizing analyses such as meta-analyses. Finally, the anonymized data collected in the study will be made publicly available in a data repository.
Publications
Kirika, A., & Hecker, T. (2022). Interaction Competencies with Children - Development and Theory of Change of a Preventative Intervention for Teachers in the Context of Socially Accepted Violence. Verhaltenstherapie, 32(Suppl. 1), 35-43.
Gershoff ET, Grogan-Kaylor A. Spanking and child outcomes: Old controversies and new meta-analyses. J Fam Psychol. 2016 Jun;30(4):453-69. doi: 10.1037/fam0000191. Epub 2016 Apr 7.
PubMed 27055181Wilson HW, Stover CS, Berkowitz SJ. Research review: The relationship between childhood violence exposure and juvenile antisocial behavior: a meta-analytic review. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2009 Jul;50(7):769-79. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2008.01974.x. Epub 2008 Nov 5.
PubMed 19017367Nkuba M, Hermenau K, Hecker T. Violence and maltreatment in Tanzanian families-Findings from a nationally representative sample of secondary school students and their parents. Child Abuse Negl. 2018 Mar;77:110-120. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.01.002. Epub 2018 Jan 9.
PubMed 29324272Newbury JB, Arseneault L, Moffitt TE, Caspi A, Danese A, Baldwin JR, Fisher HL. Measuring childhood maltreatment to predict early-adult psychopathology: Comparison of prospective informant-reports and retrospective self-reports. J Psychiatr Res. 2018 Jan;96:57-64. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2017.09.020. Epub 2017 Sep 21.
PubMed 28965006Mills R, Alati R, O'Callaghan M, Najman JM, Williams GM, Bor W, Strathearn L. Child abuse and neglect and cognitive function at 14 years of age: findings from a birth cohort. Pediatrics. 2011 Jan;127(1):4-10. doi: 10.1542/peds.2009-3479. Epub 2010 Dec 6.
PubMed 21135010Masath FB, Hinze L, Nkuba M, Hecker T. Factors Contributing to Violent Discipline in the Classroom: Findings From a Representative Sample of Primary School Teachers in Tanzania. J Interpers Violence. 2022 Sep;37(17-18):NP15455-NP15478. doi: 10.1177/08862605211015219. Epub 2021 May 19.
PubMed 34011191Majer M, Nater UM, Lin JM, Capuron L, Reeves WC. Association of childhood trauma with cognitive function in healthy adults: a pilot study. BMC Neurol. 2010 Jul 14;10:61. doi: 10.1186/1471-2377-10-61.
PubMed 20630071Kim J, Cicchetti D. Longitudinal pathways linking child maltreatment, emotion regulation, peer relations, and psychopathology. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2010 Jun;51(6):706-16. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2009.02202.x. Epub 2009 Dec 29.
PubMed 20050965Hoeffler, A. (2017). Violence Against Children: A Critical Issue for Development. The European Journal of Development Research, 29(5), 945-963.
Hillis S, Mercy J, Amobi A, Kress H. Global Prevalence of Past-year Violence Against Children: A Systematic Review and Minimum Estimates. Pediatrics. 2016 Mar;137(3):e20154079. doi: 10.1542/peds.2015-4079. Epub 2016 Jan 25.
PubMed 26810785Hecker T, Goessmann K, Nkuba M, Hermenau K. Teachers' stress intensifies violent disciplining in Tanzanian secondary schools. Child Abuse Negl. 2018 Feb;76:173-183. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2017.10.019. Epub 2017 Nov 4.
PubMed 29112855Berlin LJ, Ispa JM, Fine MA, Malone PS, Brooks-Gunn J, Brady-Smith C, Ayoub C, Bai Y. Correlates and consequences of spanking and verbal punishment for low-income white, african american, and mexican american toddlers. Child Dev. 2009 Sep-Oct;80(5):1403-20. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01341.x.
PubMed 19765008Hecker T, Hermenau K, Salmen C, Teicher M, Elbert T. Harsh discipline relates to internalizing problems and cognitive functioning: findings from a cross-sectional study with school children in Tanzania. BMC Psychiatry. 2016 Apr 29;16:118. doi: 10.1186/s12888-016-0828-3.
PubMed 27129400