Effect of the good school toolkit on school staff mental health, sense of job satisfaction and perceptions of school climate: Secondary analysis of a cluster randomised trial
Section snippets
Background
Violence against children is common in certain parts of the world, with devastating health and social effects, including depression, suicide attempts, poor educational attainment and increased risk of experiencing or perpetrating violence in adulthood (Boden et al., 2007, Norman et al., 2012, Fang and Corso, 2007, Ehrensaft et al., 2003, Hillis et al., 2016). Available national data indicate that over 40% of children in East Africa experience some form of life-time physical violence during
Study setting and design
We use data from the Good School Study (GSS), a cluster randomized controlled trial conducted between September 2012 and May 2014 in Luwero District, Uganda. The study was a collaboration between Raising Voices, a Ugandan-based Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Makerere University, the UCL-Institute of Education and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Luwero District has a population of > 450,000 and comprises both rural and urban areas. The study protocol and main trial
Staff member characteristics at baseline
The study flow-chart is presented in Fig. 1. At baseline, 577 staff participated completed the survey (control: 304, intervention: 273).
At baseline, mean staff's age was 34.5 ± 8.6 years; 59% (338/577) were female; 63% (362/577) were married, yet 51% (294/577) had more than two children. Three-quarters (76%, 441/577) were teachers, 6% (34/577) were head teachers and 18% (76/591) had other school-based roles such as administrators, cleaners, cooks and accountants. Two-thirds (68%, 386/577) had
Summary of findings
The Good School Toolkit led to a significant improvement in school staff members' perception of the school climate, including perceptions of support, respect and communication among staff and students. However, the Toolkit did not significantly improve staff mental health or sense of job satisfaction.
In previous analyses of the Good Schools Study data, we found that the intervention significantly improved students' feelings of safety and well-being at school (Devries et al., 2015). Although
Conclusions
A school-based complex behavioural intervention that reduced perpetration of physical violence against students, also improved staff members' perceptions of school climate. Although the intervention had no significant effect on staff mental health or sense of job satisfaction, it could have implications for improving staff motivation and retention, and for the development of supportive learning environments.
Declaration of interests
The Good School Toolkit was developed by Dipak Naker at Raising Voices, Kampala Uganda. Dipak Naker approached Karen Devries with the idea to do a study, was involved in the conceptualisation and design of the study, commented on the interpretation of results for pre-specified the primary and secondary outcomes, but was not involved in data collection, management, or analysis. Joshua Kayiwa was contacted as an independent statistician and researcher during the publication of these specific
Role of funding sources
This study was funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC), Department for International Development (DfID) (Grant ID: MR/L004321/1), and Wellcome Trust (Grant ID: MR/L004321/1) to Karen Devries. Additional funding was obtained from the Hewlett Foundation (Grant ID:2010-5557) to Dipak Naker. None of the funding sources had any direct or indirect involvement in the design, conduct, implementation, monitoring, analysis or reporting of the study results.
Acknowledgments
We are so grateful to all Raising Voices staff and the Good School implementation team including Willington Ssekadde, Jane Frank Nalubega and the CHAI-U team. The contribution made by the interviewers and supervisors team: Anna Louise Barr, Heidi Grundlingh, Jennifer Horton, is equally recognized. Recognition is also extended to the trial steering committee: Russell Viner (chair), Maria Quigley (independent statistician), Lucy Cluver, and Jo Mulligan (observer). Lastly, we are so grateful to
References (45)
- et al.
Exposure to childhood sexual and physical abuse and subsequent educational achievement outcomes
Child Abuse Negl.
(2007) - et al.
Responding to abuse: Children's experiences of child protection in a central district, Uganda
Child Abuse Negl.
(2014) Violence against women is strongly associated with suicide attempts: evidence from the WHO multi-country study on women's health and domestic violence against women
Soc. Sci. Med.
(2011)The good school toolkit for reducing physical violence from school staff to primary school students: a cluster-randomised controlled trial in Uganda
Lancet Glob. Health
(2015)Organizational justice at school and its associations with pupils' psychosocial school environment, health, and wellbeing
Soc. Sci. Med.
(2011)Understanding teacher morale and job satisfaction
Teach. Teach. Educ.
(1997)- et al.
Child maltreatment, youth violence, and intimate partner violence: developmental relationships
Am. J. Prev. Med.
(2007) - et al.
School climate factors relating to teacher burnout: a mediator model
Teach. Teach. Educ.
(2008) Validation of a Chichewa version of the self-reporting questionnaire (SRQ) as a brief screening measure for maternal depressive disorder in Malawi, Africa
J. Affect. Disord.
(2009)- et al.
Validation of screening tools for antenatal depression in Malawi–a comparison of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and Self Reporting Questionnaire
J. Affect. Disord.
(2013)
Do Budgets Really Matter? Evidence from Public Spending on Education and Health in Uganda
School climate, observed risky behaviors, and victimization as predictors of high school students' fear and judgments of school violence as a problem
Health Educ. Behav. Off. Publ. Soc. Public Health Educ.
A User's Guide to the Self Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ)
Systematic review of the effects of schools and school environment interventions on health: evidence mapping and synthesis
NIHR J. Libr.
Effects of school-wide positive behavioral interventions and supports on child behavior problems
Pediatrics
Violence against children and education
Int. Health
The good schools toolkit to prevent violence against children in Ugandan primary schools: study protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial
Trials
School violence, mental health, and educational performance in Uganda
Pediatrics
School violence: evaluation and proposal of teaching staff
Percept. Mot. Skills
Intergenerational transmission of partner violence: a 20-year prospective study
J. Consult. Clin. Psychol.
Teacher and staff perceptions of school environment as predictors of student aggression, victimization, and willingness to intervene in bullying situations
Sch. Psychol. Q.
Bullying behaviour and psychosocial health among school students in New South Wales, Australia: cross sectional survey
BMJ
Cited by (9)
Programs to Prevent Violence Against Children in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review
2024, Trauma, Violence, and AbusePrimary-level and community worker interventions for the prevention of mental disorders and the promotion of well-being in low- and middle-income countries
2023, Cochrane Database of Systematic ReviewsSchool-based interventions to reduce teacher violence against children: a systematic review
2023, Child Abuse ReviewA Systematic Review of the Effects of Schoolwide Intervention Programs on Student and Teacher Perceptions of School Climate
2021, Journal of Positive Behavior InterventionsA Systematic Review of Organizational and Workforce Interventions to Improve the Culture and Climate of Youth-Service Settings
2020, Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research